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What do Nina Persson, lead singer of The Cardigans, Tuva Novotny, one of Sweden's hottest young actresses; and Ylva Johansson, the Minister of Health in the Swedish government all have in common?
All are said to use moist snuff, the special type of tobacco that the Swedes call "snus." Sweden has long been the promised land of smokeless tobacco. In fact, it is more common for men to use snus here than to smoke. One can recognize the male snus user from the tell-tale ring pattern on the front pocket of his jeans, a result of the flat snus can rubbing against the jeans fabric.
Women, the newest group of snus-lovers, generally carry a can in their purses or jackets, together with their cosmetics and other necessities.
Nowadays, one in five snus users in Sweden is a woman; this represents a doubling of the number of female snus consumers over the past five years....