Kids ‘getting addicted to stimulant’ Vardy used
STRIKER QUIT TOBACCO PRODUCT SNUS IN 2018 AFTER MEDIA PHOTO
A BANNED tobacco product which Jamie Vardy admitted to using as a stimulant five years ago is getting children hooked, according to a report.
Snus is made from ground-up tobacco leaves packed into a pouch. Users place the pouch under their top lip.
Although not smoking, snus is highly addictive and has been linked to head and neck cancer, receding gums and burn-like mouth lesions, the Sunday Mirror reported.
According to some football managers, professional players using snus as a stimulant are on the rise.
A Sunday People investigation found teenagers posting about it on TikTok.
Although not illegal, snus has been banned from sale in the UK for 30 years.
An extra strong variety can contain 15mg of nicotine – one-and-a-half times that of a cigarette.
Vardy revealed in his 2016 autobiography From Nowhere: My Story that snus helped him to “chill out”.
In 2018, he said that he had quit after being pictured with a tin of snus in public while away on England duty.
“I had to kick it because it was made a big deal,” Vardy told newspapers. “So I don’t think I’ll be getting pictured with them again.”
At the time, he said: “I don’t know why (people were annoyed). There’s nothing wrong with them.”
Sunderland manager Lee Johnson said last month that snus is a “big, big problem in football” and “very detrimental to development and performance”.
Joey Barton told how on his first day as Bristol Rovers manager, he found 11 pouches spat out on the training pitch.
In May, a mum told how her 15-yearold son was hospitalised after taking snus at his school in Treorchy, South Wales.
She said: “The children pop these sachets at the top of their mouth and it’s supposed to give them a head rush. My son stupidly took part in this craze and had an adverse reaction.”
Experts led by Prof David Nutt – chairman of the scientific committee for independent campaign group Drug Science – want snus legalised, saying research found it significantly less harmful than cigarettes.
Health minister Jo Churchill told MPs in June it was “under review”.
Alice Davies, of Cancer Research UK, said: “The jury’s still out on whether it causes cancer but snus is highly addictive.”
TikTok said: “We do not allow the trade of tobacco. Our teams have reviewed the content and are removing videos and accounts that violate our guidelines.”