| Spit Tobacco (a.k.a. smokeless tobacco, dip, snuff, chew,
and chewing tobacco) is not a safe alternative to cigarette smoking.
Spit tobacco contains ingredients that frequently cause serious health problems.
Users can suffer from receding gums, cavities, and even oral cancer. Here's
what spit tobacco users need to know: |
| Nicotine |
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Nicotine is the main ingredient in spit tobacco.
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The amount of nicotine in one dip, or chew, of spit tobacco can deliver
up to 5 times the amount found in one cigarette. For example, a thirty-minute
chew gives you the same amount of nicotine as three cigarettes and a two-can
per week snuff dipper delivers the same nicotine as a 1 1/2 pack-a-day
cigarette habit.
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Nicotine is highly addictive, which means that spit tobacco
users quickly find themselves physically and psychologically dependent
on the drug.
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A spit tobacco addict will suffer withdrawal when he or she
tries to quit using because spit tobacco contains nicotine. The user will
experience stress, irritability, sleep problems, cravings, appetite increase
and stomach and intestinal disorders.
|
| Cancer |
|
Spit tobacco contains 28 known carcinogens. A carcinogen is
a substance that causes cancer. These include formaldehyde, nickel, polonium-210
and nitrosamines. Dip, or moist snuff, has the highest levels of nitrosamines
- up to 100 times the level lawfully permitted in regulated products like
bacon or beer.
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Spit tobacco users are 50 times more likely than non-users to contract
cancers of the cheek, gums and inner surface of the lips.
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Consequently, spit tobacco users risk oral cancer every time they
use. Spit tobacco can also cause other types of cancers. Ingredients
in spit tobacco juice can induce cancers of the esophagus, larynx, stomach,
pancreas, and prostate.
|
| Heart |
|
Users have a higher risk of heart disease, hypertension and
heart attacks.
|
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Spit tobacco contains high concentrations of salt, which contributes
to high blood pressure.
|
| Mouth |
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Spit tobacco users are also at a high risk for cavities due to
the amount of sugar added to spit tobacco products.
|
|
Spit tobacco users risk oral cancer every time they use.
|
| Source: Oral Health America, 2001 |
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