Our children are being threatened – if we don’t take action now we’ll end up with another generation of nicotine addicts..

November 28, 2007 - With U.S. cigarette sales declining at an average rate of about 2% a year and sales of smokeless tobacco products rising at about 6% each year tobacco companies have turned to a product called SNUS. SNUS is a smokeless, spitless moist snuff that has been part of the Swedish culture for over 200 years. Many people consider a product like SNUS to be less dangerous than cigarettes because many of the disease-causing toxins associated with smoking are created when tobacco is burned. The Swedes with SNUS being a part of their heritage always have had a low prevalence of smoking. As a result rates of lung cancer in men has been the lowest of any country in Europe. Smokeless tobacco has been considered a dirty habit because in a social setting it can be difficult to hide since the user has to spit and it can be messy. In the United States at the end of the 19th century anti-spitting laws were in force, indicting smokeless tobacco’s loss socially acceptability. (Smokeless tobacco was rapidly replaced with cigarettes – the same could happen again; “Suckers today, smokers tomorrow.”) The one property that makes SNUS tolerable is that it is promoted as being “spitless.” The SNUS packet has to be tucked under the upper lip and kept there for several minutes without movement. If movement occurs more saliva will be produced and the urge to spit will increase. Drooling can be a problem, especially for the inexperienced user and any juice that is swallowed contains lots of toxins including carcinogens. More and more studies are surfacing that indicates SNUS users are at an increased risk of developing pancreatic cancer. In addition, a lesion can form at the location in the mouth where the SNUS is continually placed. - INCOMPLETE...