Sweden, which has the lowest rate of smoking in the Europe Union, is close to declaring itself “smoke free”.As the World Health Organization (WHO) marks “World No Tobacco Day" (May 31), the Scandinavian country is close to declaring fewer than 5% daily smokers in its population.Summer is in the air, cigarette smoke is not, in Sweden's outdoor bars and restaurants. But a little further down the street, this Stockholm resident is lighting up his second cigarette in just a few minutes - he's all alone, on his smartphone, and well aware he ought to stop.“So how does it feel? It’s an addiction, one that I aim to stop at some point, maybe not today perhaps tomorrow,” says smoker Paul Monja. The sight of people lighting up is becoming increasingly rare in the country of 10.5 million. Smoking is prohibited at bus stops and train platforms and outside the entrances of hospitals and other public buildings.Like in most of Europe, smoking isn’t allowed inside bars and restaurants, but since 2019 Sweden’s smoking ban also applies to their outdoor seating areas. Sweden, which has the lowest rate of smoking in the Europe Union, is close to declaring itself “smoke free” — defined as having fewer than 5% daily smokers in the population. Only 6.4% of Swedes over 15 were daily smokers in 2019, the lowest in the EU and far below the average of 18.5% across the 27-nation bloc, according to the Eurostat statistics agency.“No I do not smoke. Why? I don’t know I never started,” says Stockholm resident Andreas Modig, on his way to grab some lunch. “We like a healthy way to live, I think that’s the reason,” says another Stockholm resident Carina Astorsson. “I don’t like the smell, I want to take care of my body, so no, it has never been an interest for me,” she adds.Many Swedes try to embrace a healthy lifestyle - joggers and health-conscious individuals can be seen running both in city centers and in nearby forests. Many experts give credit to decades of anti-smoking campaigns and legislation.“You can’t smoke in the street, you can’t smoke there, you can’t smoke here, sometimes I feel a little sorry for the smokers because it’s forbidden almost all over,” says Stockholm resident Cecilia.But other experts point to the prevalence of “snus,” a smokeless tobacco product that is banned elsewhere in the EU but is marketed in Sweden as an alternative to cigarettes.Users stuff small pouches of the moist tobacco under their upper lips.Swedes are so fond of their snus, a distant cousin of dipping tobacco in the United States, that they demanded an exemption to the EU’s ban on smokeless tobacco when they joined the bloc in 1995.For Swedish Match, a company that specializes in the production and sale of tobacco products, snus is part of the Swedish identity.“It’s part of the Swedish culture, it’s like the Swedish equivalent of Italian Parma ham or any other cultural habit," says Patrik Hildingsson, a spokesman for Swedish Match, Sweden’s top snus maker, which was acquired by tobacco giant Philip Morris last year."We put the little piece of tobacco either as a loose or in a pouch which is far more common, like a small tea bag and we put it under the upper lip and that’s how we use it."Over the past ten years Swedes have increased their use of snus and nicotine pouches, which do not contain tobacco, from 11.2% to 13.7%.“I think the policy makers should encourage the industry, and encourage the industry to develop, harmless alternatives or less harmful alternatives, and there should be a range of products that is not involving the combustion process," says Hildingsson.Swedish snus makers have long held up their product as a less harmful alternative to smoking and claim credit for the country’s declining smoking rates. But Swedish health authorities are reluctant to advise smokers to switch to snus, another highly addictive nicotine product.Tove Marina Sohlberg, a researcher and lecturer at Stockholm University, examines tobacco, alcohol, and drug usage from a social science perspective. She says Sweden’s anti-smoking policies have had the effect of stigmatizing smoking and smokers, pushing them away from public spaces into backyards and designated smoking areas.“Well of course, it’s a combination, we have the laws and the policies, we are sending signals to the smokers that this is not accepted by society," she says.Sohlberg acknowledges that snus carry risks. Some studies have linked them to increased risk of heart disease, diabetes and premature births if used during pregnancy.But she believes in the harm reduction paradigm, which aims to offer less harmful alternatives to smoking.“In order to keep people away from smoking, which is associated, we know that, in an increase in mortality, increase in tobacco related health, and offer them an alternative that is less harmful," she says.WHO, the U.N. health agency, says Turkmenistan, with a rate of tobacco use below 5%, is ahead of Sweden when it comes to phasing out smoking, but notes that’s largely due to smoking being almost nonexistent among women. For men the rate is 7%.WHO attributes Sweden’s declining smoking rate to a combination of tobacco control measures, including information campaigns, advertising bans and “cessation support” for those wishing to quit tobacco.However, the agency noted that Sweden’s tobacco use is at more than 20% of the adult population, similar to the global average, when you include snus and similar products.“Switching from one harmful product to another is not a solution,” WHO said in an email.“Promoting a so-called ‘harm reduction approach’ to smoking is another way the tobacco industry is trying to mislead people about the inherently dangerous nature of these products," it said.