Chewing Tobacco: Not a Safe Alternative

 

By Cassie Kauffman, Health Educator, Weld County Tobacco Program

 

On July 1, 2006 Colorado became the 13th state to institute a comprehensive smoking law called the Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act. The purpose of this law “is to preserve and improve the health, comfort, and environment of the people of this state by limiting exposure to tobacco smoke.” This law prohibits smoking in most indoor areas such as restaurants, bars and most businesses.

 

Like all tobacco products, cigarette smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals, at least 60 of which are known carcinogens. The secondhand smoke by itself is considered a Class A carcinogen like asbestos. By limiting exposure to secondhand smoke, the social acceptance of smoking also decreases. In fact, there are now more people trying to quit smoking than ever before. The tobacco industry understands these changes and has begun to market tobacco in a different way.

 

Cigarettes are the largest selling tobacco product, but with major changes in smoking policies around the country, the tobacco industry realizes they may need to diversify their deadly products. Companies such as Reynolds American (maker of Camel and Kool cigarettes) and Philip Morris (Marlboro) in addition to the traditional chewing tobacco industry-leader U.S Smokeless (Skoal, Copenhagen) are capitalizing on the fact that people cannot smoke indoors and have decided to promote and sell chewing tobacco products as an alternative to smoking-especially in public places where smoking is increasingly prohibited.

 

            These products include Taboka Tobaccopaks™ which “are smoke-free, spit-free tobacco pouches (and)…our marketing activities will be…to smokers” according to Philip Morris’s website. Camel Snus (Reynolds American), Revel Tobacco Packs and Marlboro Snus are now being test-marketed in select areas as well. Some of these new products are also unabashedly marketed to young people with flavors like “Apple Blend”, “Berry Blend”, and other candy-flavored tobacco. These companies are also lobbying to promote these products as quit smoking aids. They claim that chewing tobacco has a lower relative amount of harm compared to cigarettes even though they admit it cannot eliminate it and are part of tobacco-industry led lobbying they call Harm Reduction.

While chewing tobacco is primarily targeted to and used by men, the tobacco industry is now targeting women as well. Most of the products targeted at women are in pouch form rather than loose tobacco. Many of the products targeted to women are in brighter colors and emphasize the flavors. Some women have gone as far as to put the moistened chew between their toes in order to get the nicotine but not have it noticed in their mouths.

          Although the tobacco industry continues to promote these products as “alternatives” to smoking with implied (or overt) claims for harm reduction, the simple fact is that chewing tobacco is not a healthy or safe option and carries most of the same risks that cigarettes do, including addiction. Chewing tobacco creates a variety of health problems, usually first noticed in the mouth. For instance, people who chew are more likely to have cavities. Chew contains high amounts of sugar and coarse particles that can irritate your gums and scratch away at the enamel on your teeth, making your teeth more vulnerable to cavities.

It also causes gum disease which causes the gums to pull away from the teeth, and eventually causes tooth loss. A common problem in people who chew are precancerous mouth sores called leukoplakia that are small white patches that could develop into cancer. This includes cancers of the mouth, throat, cheek, gums, lips and tongue. Surgeries to remove these cancers can leave a person disfigured. The health risks tied to chewing tobacco are not limited to the mouth, however. Just like cigarettes, chewing tobacco increases heart rate, blood pressure, cholesterol, and increases the risk of heart attack, heart disease and stroke.

            Don’t be misled by tobacco-industry marketing and lies. The only safe way to quit tobacco is to give it up -in all forms- for good. For more information on quitting chewing or smoking, call the Colorado QuitLine at 1-800-QUIT-NOW or visit the Colorado QuitNet at www.co.quitnet.com.