Tagged - tobacco

Swedish Snus: The Ultimate Nicotine Delivery System?

Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

I’m a former smoker that switched to Swedish Snus, just so you’re not getting any ideas about me “promoting” tobacco use. It’s a very annoying habit and I will always say so, but once you’re addicted and can’t stop it’s always a good idea to go into harm reduction rather than continue to smoke.

Now with that out of the way.. I didn’t have much experience with other forms of smokeless tobacco like dip, chew, etc. I always wondered why people used it when there was Swedish Snus. I ran out of my “usual” Thunder Frosted Extra Stark. So guess what? The local tobacco store sells nothing other than that camel and Marlboro garbage. I couldn’t feel that unless I put the entire can in my mouth. It’s designed to keep people smoking.. Anyway I headed over to the dip section because I figured that would take care of my craving. Picked up some Grizzly Long Cut.

First thing I notice when I put it in my mouth, the entire inside of my mouth is covered with brown saliva. Nasty. (swedish snus barely makes any spit and I just swallow any it does create because it’s barely anything and doesn’t bother me at all.) It burns like crazy, and seemed to tear my mouth up A LOT more than swedish snus. I went through only 2 1/2 cans of the stuff, and my bottom lip feels like i’ve been putting swedish snus there for like 6 months or a year. I can’t imagine how it would be if I continued to use this stuff.

The only real advantage I found in dip is that it creates more taste and if you want to have a more “active” experience with a spittoon, it’s not a bad experience. Other than that, it pretty much sucks.

The other problem I have with it is that it’s weaker than my usual Thunder Frosted. I didn’t have direct comparison until today, but I would have to use 1/12+ of the can to get the same amount of nicotine out of Grizzly as I got from Thunder Frosted ES.

Next problem with dip is that it is fire cured. This creates way more cancer causing agents in comparison with swedish snus.

Conclusion on Dip: Only used as a last resort. Not as bad for you as smoking, but not a real pleasant form of tobacco.

Swedish Snus Overview

spitless
not linked to oral cancer
small pouches you just throw in your upper lip.
after using for so long it feels like putting in a mint.
your mouth barely gets torn up at all.
wide variety of flavors.
no mess.
barely stains teeth.
tons of different strengths available.
tons of different types available, such as white portion.
no “looks” from other people because you’re spitting.
looks like you’re using mints.
pancreatic cancer is the only form linked to its use.
98% less dangerous directly compared to smoking. (check out Dr. Rodu, Tobacco Harm Reduction Sites, and some news articles on Swedish Snus.)

Conclusion

If you’re going to use tobacco, you ought to be using Swedish Snus. There’s no doubt in my mind this is the “ultimate” version of tobacco. Smoking is terrible, it destroys your body more than even chew or dip, by a lot. Dip is also annoying and a pain. No one likes seeing people spit all over the place.  Destroys your mouth. Chew rots your teeth. Cigars cause lots of oral cancer. Pipes cause lots of oral cancer.

Which will you chose? The choice seems obvious: Swedish Snus.

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Easiest Way To Stop Smoking – E-Cigarettes & Snus

Thursday, May 27th, 2010

First of all, I smoked a pack a day for 4 years. I picked up my first e-cigarette more than a year ago, I dropped it and started smoking again for a year. Then I picked up the e-cigarette again. I stayed with them for 3 months, and I still use it daily, a lot more than snus. (currently, anyway)

A number of things point to e-cigarettes being relatively safe (however there needs to be more research done) and I have used them for months, guess what? My lungs have cleared up, I can finally breathe again. I feel good, generally.

I’ve heard about snus being a pretty healthy alternative to cigarettes as well, and some people combining it with e-cigarettes to finally “lay down” cigarettes completely. One day I had no batteries for my e-cigarette and I was out and about, so instead of buying a pack of cigarettes (which would’ve broke my 3 month long cigarette free streak) I opted to pick up some camel snus. I felt something familiar, a “good feeling” not like when I vape on my ecig to kill withdrawal, that’s a completely different feeling. Then I remembered that there are MAOI’s in tobacco, and that’s what I was probably feeling more than anything. Remember, I didn’t use these MAOI’s for 3 months, however I think they were the problem. I was still holding on to my old cigarettes because I really felt something was missing from my e-cigarette, and it was bothering me.

Later on I decided to try swedish snus, and man is that ever stronger than camel. I had an “MAOI” rush. (I had been puffing on my e-cigarette like normal until the package came, and had just put it down prior to popping in some swedish snus.)

All of a sudden, I feel much better, and feel like I used to when I smoked. This resulted in me throwing away all my cigarettes (finally). I had been holding them because I wanted that MAOI feeling back. I missed it. I was going to ignore it as much as possible and try to get over it, however this makes me feel safer. Now I can say for certain that I don’t have any need to smoke.

Note: You have to realize that smoking is the WORST POSSIBLE WAY to get nicotine, period. I know a lot of people are brainwashed into thinking that smokeless tobacco is WORSE for you than cigarettes. That’s completely FALSE. Unfortunately, cigarettes have the highest rate of all cancers. Oral, lung, pancreatic, etc. Yes there are risks to snus, however those risks are very small in comparison with smoking. (90% – 98% safer)

Conclusion

In my opinion, combining e-cigarettes and snus is going to be the absolute best combination for anyone to quit smoking. Some people don’t care about the MAOI’s much, others do. However, I think e-cigarettes and snus are great choices for anyone willing to stop smoking. Pick up a blucig and see if e-cigarettes are right for you. Otherwise check out northerner.com.

Still, I would like to quit nicotine/tobacco completely, but I’m a pretty big addict. The least I can do is try to be healthier with my habit, and it’s so nice that the “powers that be” shield all harm reduction is secrecy.


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