Source: www.wtrf.com
Author: Courtney Dunn

Are makers of a new tobacco product targeting young adults in West Virginia? That is the question of a study being conducted in our area.

West Virginia University researchers have made some startling discoveries about a new tobacco product. Not only are they calling it highly addictive, but they also believe tobacco companies are trying to strategically market the product in high-use areas, like West Virginia.

The new spit-less, smokeless tobacco product can be found at local gas station convenience stores. It is called Camel Snus.

Researchers say the pouches have more nicotine than most other smokeless products. That is something they say is particularly alarming because it is being advertised as a socially acceptable alternative.

“This is not a health product,” said Dr. Alan Ducatman, the WVU Hospitals Chair of the Department of Community Medicine. “This is a product designed to get people to use it over time and even though it hasn’t been around all that long, they already found in Scandinavia, health consequences are already being studied and detected.”

Ducatman says those consequences can range from oral to pancreatic cancer, hypertension and even heart disease. On the back of Camel’s “Snusing Guide” there is a label warning the product may cause mouth cancer. You also have to be 18 to buy it.

Because it is virtually undetectable researchers worry it is something that will catch on around college campuses and with even younger age groups.