Background: Several studies have investigated the role of snus as an aid to become smoke-free, but few have focused on who use snus, how they perceive snus use, why and how they quit, and their perception of being nonsnus users. The purpose of this paper is to describe snus cessation patterns.

Methods: Respondents are part of a 7-year follow-up of former smokers in Sweden. Initially, 1400 respondents were contacted regarding participation and 705 answered a web-based survey (response rate 50%). Out of them, 118 had used snus. The analyses include percentage distributions, as well as factor analyses of inventories, and configural frequency analysis in order to examine configurations of snus-related patterns.

Results: Over 80% found snus of great importance to succeed with smoking cessation and half of them continued to use snus on a long term. Those who experienced both physical and psychological effects of switching to snus were the ones who continued and vice versa; those who did not experience such effects quit using snus. None made use of professional help but had their own strategies (60%), and most respondents who quit obtained psychological benefits (68%).

Conclusions: The distinction between the concepts smoke-free, tobacco-free, and nicotine-free contributes to nuances in the debate on snus as harm reduction. Continued snus use does not mean that snus is not an effective aid to become smoke-free. Snus cessation is mostly mentioned in relation to advices on how to succeed, but the cessation process has rarely been described; therefore, this study expands the knowledge on this quite neglected topic and contributes to a more nuanced picture of snus cessation.