tobacco chew

[GeekDiver]

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_10_2x_Smokeless_Tobacco_and_Cancer.asp

Why Is It So Hard To Quit?
Smokeless tobacco delivers a high dose of nicotine. An average dose for snuff is 3.6 mg, for chewing tobacco, 4.6 mg - compared to 1.8 mg for cigarettes. Blood levels of nicotine throughout the day are similar among smokers and those who use smokeless tobacco.

A report in the Journal of the American Medical Association calculated that smokeless tobacco users ". . . who use dip or chew 8-10 times a day might be exposed to the same amount of nicotine as people who smoke 30-40 cigarettes a day." Stopping smokeless tobacco use causes symptoms of nicotine withdrawal that are similar to those smokers get when they quit.

In a study of Swedish oral snuff users, many of the participants said they were addicted to snuff, and they reported having as much trouble giving up smokeless tobacco as did cigarette smokers trying to quit smoking. Evidence also suggests that when regular snuff users can't use snuff, they will smoke cigarettes to satisfy their need for nicotine.

How Nicotine Affects the Body
Nicotine is a drug found naturally in tobacco. It is highly addictive, as addictive as heroin and cocaine. The body becomes physically and psychologically dependent on nicotine, and studies have shown that users must overcome both of these to be successful at quitting and staying quit.

Nicotine affects many parts of the body, including your heart and blood vessels, your hormonal system, your metabolism, and your brain. During pregnancy, nicotine freely crosses the placenta and has been found in amniotic fluid and the umbilical cord blood of newborn infants. Nicotine is metabolized mainly by the liver and lungs, but a small amount is excreted by the kidneys. Nicotine is broken down by the body into the by-products cotinine and nicotine-N'-oxide.

Nicotine produces pleasurable feelings that make the tobacco user want to use more and also acts as a depressant by interfering with the flow of information between nerve cells. As the nervous system adapts to nicotine, tobacco users tend to increase the amount of tobacco they use, and hence the amount of nicotine in their blood. After a while, the tobacco user develops a tolerance to the drug, which leads to an increased use over time. Eventually, the tobacco user reaches a certain nicotine level and then keeps up the usage to maintain this level of nicotine.

 

[voop]

You don't actualy chew the teabags, it just sits there and the nicotine is absorbed through the gums. They came up with this as a way to keep it from getting in-between your teeth. The problem is the bags arn't big enough.

So basically, snuff and chewing tobacco are the same, except that snuff comes in non-kevlar teabags -- and you actually chew neither of it, which would make kevlar unnecessary. Ok, I guess that makes sense, thanks again

 

[GeekDiver]

Voop, yep it's all the same the only differance is the cut and if they add any thing to the tobacco for taste. The Copenhagen brand by US Tobbaco is more natural than most and is one of the finest cut. Skoal another popular dip has a very strong wintergreen flavor but is cut much longer. Since snuff is a fine cut you have to pinch or "dip" some out of the can to place in your mouth. Chews are often leafy or in a solid pressed plug that you have to "chew" or cut a bite off.

I'll throw another curve into this since we're on the subject. There are some brands of snuff that you don't actualy put into your mouth at all. This snuff is a fine powder tobacco and you sniff it. It's more the gentleman's brand snuff and is used to help clear your sinus out. I've used it from time to time on a lark but never cared much for it.

 

[GeekDiver]

Oh, for those who think snuff is a dirty habit let me provide a link and a bit of history of it's use in the US

http://www.c-span.org/questions/week148.htm

Are there still snuff boxes in the Senate chamber?

Yes, there are two: one on each side of the Presiding Officer’s rostrum, so both the majority and minority side of the aisle have easy access. The boxes are the originals dating from 1860, and are affixed on the marble ledges just inside the doors Senators use to enter the chamber.

The snuff boxes are small (3"), made of black lacquered leather, with a Japanese scene decorating the top. Senate pages are given the responsibility of keeping them filled, although they rarely do so anymore since no Senators today are known to use snuff. Snuff, a pulverized form of tobacco, is either chewed or inhaled. In the past, the Senate has stocked both the moist variety of snuff, known as “rappee,” and the dry variety, known as “sweet” or “Scotch.”

Senator Robert Byrd [D-WV] wrote about the tradition of the snuff boxes in his published history of the Senate [The Senate 1789-1989: Addresses on the History of the United States Senate. 4 Volumes. Government Printing Office. 1991. ]


At one time, in the early 1800's, there was only one snuffbox in the old Senate chamber. Former page Isaac Bassett, who, by the late 1800's, had risen to the post of assistant doorkeeper, recalled in his memoirs how the tradition of the two snuffboxes arose. It was always his custom, he said, to keep a snuffbox on the vice president’s desk. The senators used to step up to the desk to get a pinch of snuff, and they would stop to chat awhile with the vice president. Sometimes, two or three senators would be standing at the rostrum, each with a pinch of snuff in his fingers, deep in conversation.
One day in 1849, Vice President Millard Fillmore complained to Bassett in desperation: “I want you to take this snuff box away from here. I can’t understand what is going on in the Chamber because of the interruptions and the conversations of Senators who come here for snuff!” Fillmore suggested that boxes be placed on either side of the chamber, and Bassett complied with little boxes like the ones we see today. . . .

The habit of snuff-taking in the Senate chamber is as old as the Senate. For those today or in the future who would cast a jaundiced eye at the use of snuff, we might pause to be reminded that, during the first half of the nineteenth century, most members of this body carried their own boxes of finely ground tobacco, and some even kept two boxes on their persons, one containing a mixture for personal use and another, usually a milder type, which was offered to friends. Washington’s leading presidential hostess, Dolley Madison, is reported to have carried as many as three snuffboxes at White House receptions. [Volume two, pp. 426-427]



For more information, an illustrated 2-page pamphlet called “Apropros of Snuff . . . a Few Words about Snuff and the U.S. Senate,” is available from the Office of Curator, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510.

http://www.snuff.com/

A Brief History of Snuff

Sniffing snuff was the original method of taking tobacco, first used by the American Indians. Christopher Columbus noticed them sniffing a mysterious powder during his second voyage of discovery (1494-6) and brought the substance back to Europe. Snuff taking fast became the vogue among the Spanish and the French, although it only gained limited acceptance in England until Charles II brought the habit back from his exile in France.

Snuff was primarily the province of the aristocrat and the man of fashion, who looked down on the common man and his pipe. It was always particularly popular in court circles. Queen Anne so enjoyed snuff that all her ladies took up the habit. Queen Charlotte, the consort of George III, acquired the name 'snuffy Charlotte' because of her passion for it. Her son, George IV, changed his snuff according to the time of day and had a storage room set aside in each of his palaces. The man in the street was first introduced to the habit after the capture of a Spanish convoy in 1702. Among the booty was a large consignment of snuff, which was given to the sailors as part of their payment. They distributed it around the ports and coastal towns, where it quickly became popular. Mills were established in London, Bristol, Sheffield and Kendal, and soon snuff shops were sprouting up everywhere, with over 400 in London alone.

Until the 1900s, the volume of snuff produced far exceeded that of tobacco for smoking or chewing. Everyone took it - from poet Alexander Pope to naturalist Charles Darwin, actress Sarah Siddons to the Duke of Wellington. Lord Nelson took large quantities to sea with him, while Napoleon sniffed up over seven pounds a month. Physicians made great claims for it, prescribing snuff for headaches, insomnia, toothache, coughs and colds and recommending it as a measure against contagion.

Today, snuff is "in". It's a delightful way of getting the nicotine fix where smoking is either frowned upon or outright banned. And the trend is strongest among 20 and 30-somethings. Because of the passive smoking issue, it is becoming more acceptable to have a pinch of snuff after dinner than to light up.

 

[scubatexastony]

Geek, quit now buddy. You can't imagine how much better you will feel with that monkey off your back.

Take it from someone who knows.

....has something to hide, 'cept for me and my monkey... as the tune goes....
Geekman....I feel your pain...LOL

pardon me....gotta get a pinch!

tony

 

[Windminstrel]

....has something to hide, 'cept for me and my monkey... as the tune goes....
Geekman....I feel your pain...LOL

pardon me....gotta get a pinch!

tony

I hear ya, my brother. I think we need to start a new Scubaboard club -- the Snuff Monkeydivers maybe?

 

[voop]

Well, who'd have thought that I'd learn that much about a very specific use of tobacco on scubaboard? I wonder what can possibly be next....

 

[GeekDiver]

"Snuff Monkey Divers" That does have a bit of a ring to it. I can see it now.

 

[Web Monkey]

Tonight a student of mine told me he chews tobacco while diving. Other than being less than impressed that he uses a rental reg, I can't come up with a good reason why he shouldn't. Must be a choking hazard or something.
Any opinions on this?
cheers,

How about "Because you said so".

Aside from anything else, he has no right to inflict his disgusting habit on his buddy when they might share air (which could be any time).

Terry

 

[TCDiver1]

I'm telling ya guys, if i can quit, so can you. Few dippers jagged on that stuff more than I. I was hooked morning, noon and night, a one tin+ per week monkey.

So i understand the monkey but don't try to convince yourself its not bad for you. Its the worst and you know it. This isn't about me being righteous because i managed to quit if thats what you think. Its about you being honest with yourself about the health risks. If you doing it more than once in awhile, the risks are many.

If you can accept those risks then chew on friends. I was fortunate that i had family members give me the push i needed to quit.

I haven't regreted it for a second. That is, after, i got over the yips from the nicotine withdrawal.