Smokeless Tobacco

What is spit tobacco?

Spit tobacco is a mixture of tobacco, nicotine, sweeteners, abrasives, salts and chemicals.

Spit tobacco comes in two basic forms:

• Chew is a leafy tobacco sold in pouches. Plug tobacco, which is sold in brick form, is also a form of chew.
• Snuff is finely ground tobacco in powder form that is sold in small tins. Some people sniff it, but the more commonly used form is moist snuff, which is held between the cheek and gum.

Who uses spit tobacco?

Spit tobacco use is higher in the prairies than in the rest of Canada. Athletes, Aboriginals and rural males are the groups who use spit tobacco the most.

Most spit tobacco users start around age nine or ten. Spit tobacco products are often flavoured with licorice, cherry, mint or wintergreen, and sweetened with molasses or sugar - flavours that are appealing to children.

Can using spit tobacco harm my health?

Spit tobacco has over 3,000 chemicals, including 28 known carcinogens. Spit tobacco is not a safe substitute for cigarettes and can harm your health in many ways.

• You can develop cancer of the mouth (lip, tongue, and cheek, floor and roof of the mouth) and throat.
• Leukoplakia (white, leathery sores) may develop where tobacco is held in the mouth, such as the cheeks, gums or tongue. The longer you use spit tobacco, the more likely you are to get sores. These sores can turn into cancer of the mouth.
• You may experience increased heart rate, higher blood pressure and irregular heartbeats.
• You can become addicted to nicotine. Spit tobacco is addictive because it contains the drug nicotine. In fact, spit tobacco contains more nicotine than cigarettes do.
• Constricted blood vessels (caused by the nicotine) can slow your reaction time and cause dizziness. Not a good thing if you play sports or are working in a dangerous environment.
• You can develop tooth and gum disease including cavities, lost teeth, bad breath and painful sores. Using spit tobacco can cause bone loss around teeth and create worn spots or abrasions on the tooth surface. Gums injured from the chemicals in spit tobacco will pull away from your teeth, leaving them sensitive to hot and cold. This kind of damage is permanent.

This information has been used with permission from the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission (AADAC). For more information visit http://tobacco.aadac.com.