Smokeless Tobacco
Here's an idea - why not avoid the risks of tobacco smoke altogether by chewing the tobacco? As an added bonus, there'll be no more worries about passive smoking or smoking bans!
The reality is, of course, not so simple. Smokeless tobacco, sold in the US as chewing and snuff tobacco, has only marginally less risk than cigarettes, and a host of other problems come with it.
With smokeless tobacco gaining in popularity among teenagers, this page aims to explain the real risks involved. In many ways they are even more unpleasant than those of normal smoking.
What is Smokeless Tobacco?
Smokeless tobacco is essentially the same product as you can find in a cigarette, but with fewer additives. Chewing tobacco comes in small pouches of long tobacco strands, whereas snuff tobacco comes in a larger bag of ground tobacco, from which the user takes small amounts at a time.
It's easy to recognize a smokeless tobacco user - they have the telltale bulge in their lower jaw where the tobacco is held. Additionally, they have the unpleasant habit of 'spitting' out a dark, thick globule of excess tobacco juices.
Chewing was one of the original methods of tobacco consumption, but its popularity began to decrease after cigarettes were invented in 1832. The original chewers were the Mayans of Central America, which may explain why the Southern US is still a chewing tobacco stronghold. Users tend to be in lower income brackets, but many baseball players are also chewers.
Smokeless Tobacco & Health
Chewing tobacco may be less likely to give you lung cancer, but it is associated with a host of other unpleasant ailments. Unfortunately it is just as addictive as smoking, and teens who start on chewing tobacco are very likely to turn into full blown smokers.
Tobacco chewers are at much greater risk of developing cancer of the mouth and larynx, as well as leukoplakia, white sores that develop around the mouth. It is also thought that users are at greater risk of heart disease and high blood pressure.
While getting cancer is still something of a lottery with chewing tobacco, the more immediate effects on your appearance are not. All users experience receding gums and bone loss in the teeth, sometimes concentrated on one side of the mouth. Bad breath is also more frequent, in addition to a telltale staining of the teeth.
Chewing tobacco is sometimes promoted as an aid to quit smoking, and the tobacco companies have pushed it as an alternative in areas with smoking bans. However, chewing tobacco is no less dangerous and there is no evidence that it can be used as an aid to stop smoking.
Quitting Smokeless Tobacco
Chewing tobacco actually produces higher levels of nicotine in the blood than normal smoking does, making it just as hard to quit. Withdrawal symptoms are the same or more severe than those for people who try to stop smoking.
Quitting chewing tobacco is a similar challenge to that which smokers face. However there are a couple of differences. In the same way that smokers frequently need to find something to do with their hands, chewers needs to find something to chew. Flavored gum is an excellent substitute.
On the plus side, the benefits of quitting can be immediately visible. When the receded gums start to recover, teeth are back to their original color, and mouth sores disappear, the symptoms of withdrawal can start to seem a little easier to deal with.