Shane Reif

WHAT IS SMOKELESS TOBACCO???

The two main types of smokeless tobacco in the United States are

chewing tobacco and snuff. • Chewing tobacco

comes in the form of loose leaf, plug,

or twist.

• Snuff is finely ground tobacco that can be dry, moist, or in sachets (tea bag-like pouches).

BOTH FORMS ARE DANGEROUS!!

“New users of smokeless tobacco . . . are most likely to begin with products that are milder tasting, more flavored and/or easier to control in the mouth.

After a period of time, there is a natural progression of product switching to brands that are more full-bodied, less flavored, have more concentrated ‘tobacco taste’ than the entry brand.” (UST document, “The Graduation Theory”)

The National Drug Strategy Network reports that the most popular brands of spit tobacco in the U.S. are the ones with the

most nicotine per gram. For nicotine to be absorbed into the bloodstream, the tobacco must have a pH of over 7. 

Brand % of snuff market

Milligrams of nicotine per

gram

pH

Copenhagen 42% 11.4 8.6

Original Fine Cut Skoal

20% 10.4 7.6

Skoal Long Cut Cherry

3% 11.4 7.5

Skoal Bandits Wintergreen

2% 7.5 6.9

Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids

Holding an average-size dip in your mouth for 30 minutes gives

you as much nicotine as

smoking three cigarettes. A 2-

can-a-week snuff dipper gets as

much nicotine as a 1 ½ pack-a-day

smoker does.

National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research

Unburned tobacco contains nitrosamines, which are known to cause cancer in laboratory animals.

Moist snuff contains nitrosamines up to 100 times the lawful level permitted in

regulated products like bacon.100

A study of snuff carcinogenesis.Brunnemann KD, Rivenson A, Adams JD, Hecht SS, Hoffmann D.

American Health Foundation, Naylor Dana Institute for Disease Prevention, Valhalla, NY 10595

Cadmium (Used in car batteries)

Uranium 235 (used in nuclear

weapons)

Formaldehyde (embalming

fluid)

Nicotine (addictive drug)

Polonium 210 (nuclear

waste)

N-Nitrosamines (cancer causing agents)

Acetaldehyde (irritant)

Benzopyrene (cancer-causing

agent)

Hydrazine(rocket propellant)

National Cancer Institute

WHO CHEWS? • In Kansas 17.4% of high school males use

smokeless tobacco.

• White males are more likely to be smokeless tobacco users.

• Of the 12 to 14 million American users, one third are under age 21, and more than half of those developed the habit before they were 13.

• Peer pressure is just one of the reasons for starting the habit.

“Cherry Skoal is for somebody who likes the

taste of candy, if you know what I

mean.”

Sales representative for US Smokeless Tobacco Co.

Social Effects:What Can Chewing Tobacco Do

to Me?BAD BREATH

YELLOWISH BROWN TEETH

MOUTH SORES

CRACKED AND BLEEDING LIPS

LOSS OF TEETH

SHRINKING GUMS

HAIRY TONGUE

The more immediate effects can disrupt your social life: bad breath and yellowish-brown stains on your teeth. You'll also get mouth sores (about 70% of spit tobacco users have them). But, it gets a lot more serious than that.

OK, smokeless tobacco seems to be pretty disgusting…

But so what? You chew and spit it, not smoke it, so it can't be as bad as inhaling tobacco smoke into your lungs, right?

Health Effects:• SMOKELESS TOBACCO CONTAINS 28

CANCER-CAUSING AGENTS. IT IS A KNOWN CAUSE OF HUMAN CANCER.

• ORAL CANCER MEANS CANCER OF THE MOUTH AND CAN OCCUR IN THE LIPS,

THE TONGUE, THE FLOOR OF THE MOUTH, THE CHEEKS, OR GUMS.

• CHEWING TOBACCO DOESN’T JUST CAUSE CANCER IN THE MOUTH. SOME OF THE

CANCER-CAUSING AGENTS IN THE TOBACCO CAN GET INTO THE LINING OF YOUR STOMACH, YOUR ESOPHOGUS, AND

INTO YOUR BLADDER.

The risk of cancer of cheek and gums may increase nearly 50-fold among

long-term snuff users.American Cancer Society

The five-year survival rate for white patients is 56 percent and for African American patients is only 34 percent.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

98% of guys who use chewing tobacco say their male friends don’t mind at all.*

* Oddly enough there are no figures for how their girlfriends feel about it.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

WANT TO HELP SOMEONE YOU KNOW QUIT USING TOBACCO?

• The majority of tobacco users want to quit, but have been unable to do so.

• The 24-hour toll-free Kansas Tobacco Quitline provides screening, counseling, support materials and referral for tobacco cessation assistance based on individual's readiness to quit.

• For more information on quitting call the Kansas Tobacco Quitline at 1-866-KAN-STOP (1-866-526-7867).

• Special counseling available for smokeless tobacco users.

• Special counseling available for people under the age of 18.

– Tell someone you know about the Kansas Tobacco Quitline Today!