Source: Reuters Health Author: Shereen Jegtvig Norwegians who started using snus before age 16 were more likely to become cigarette smokers than those who started using snus later in life, according to a new study. Snus is moist smokeless tobacco developed in Sweden. It's contained in a small pouch, and unlike regular chewing tobacco, it doesn't make the user spit. Research suggests snus has lower levels of chemicals called nitrosamines than cigarettes and may be less harmful. In Norway, snus has become a smoking cessation aid and most older snus users are former smokers. But snus is also becoming increasingly popular among young Norwegian adults, many of whom have not smoked cigarettes. And although research is divided, the current thinking is that snus use reduces the likelihood of taking up smoking. The authors of the new study wanted to know more about when people start using snus, to see if that ties into whether they also begin smoking cigarettes. "I already knew about the research investigating associations between snus use and later smoking, but discovered that snus debut age had not been mentioned in that research," Ingeborg Lund told Reuters Health in an email. Lund is a researcher with the Norwegian Institute for Alcohol and Drug Research - SIRUS, in Oslo. She and her colleague Janne Scheffels published their study in Nicotine and Tobacco Research. The researchers analyzed surveys of Norwegian teenagers and adults conducted from 2005 to 2011. Out of 8,313 people, 409 were long-term snus users who had started using snus before [...]