Smokeless Tobacco and Other Fads. (Unit 3: Tobacco).

Most fads come and go without doing much harm. But some fads are dangerous, such as the use of smokeless tobacco, cigars, and a type of imported cigarette called "bidis."

Smokeless tobacco, cigars, and bidis are promoted as "natural" forms of tobacco that are less harmful than cigarettes. However, nothing could be further from the truth! Here's the real story about these very dangerous forms of tobacco.

Smokeless Tobacco

Smokeless tobacco includes chewing tobacco, also called dip or snuff. Chewing tobacco is made of shredded leaves compressed into a "plug" that can be chewed or tucked between the cheek and teeth. Moist snuff is ground or finely shredded tobacco that is placed between the lip or cheek and gums.

All forms of smokeless tobacco contain nicotine. In fact, the average portion of dip contains as much nicotine as two cigarettes. Using smokeless tobacco actually sends nicotine into the bloodstream faster than smoking cigarettes because it passes directly through the mucous membranes of the mouth.

The nicotine from smokeless tobacco is just as addictive as the nicotine from cigarettes. People who have used both cigarettes and smokeless tobacco report that giving up smokeless tobacco was harder than giving up cigarettes, and that their withdrawal symptoms were worse with smokeless tobacco.

The cancer-causing chemicals in smokeless tobacco are just as deadly as those in tobacco smoke. Since the "quid" or plug stays in the mouth for a long time, greater quantifies of chemicals enter the body. Using smokeless tobacco dramatically increases the risk of cancer of the tongue, lips, gums, larynx (voice box), and esophagus.