snus – Page 3 – Oral Cancer News

Sweden wants the EU to legalize snus

Source: Stockholm News The Swedish government is now urging the EU to legalise snus (moist powder tobacco). But this has led to a quarrel between the government and its own experts in the National Board of Health and Welfare and in the Swedish National Institute for Public Health. Since some years back, the EU is overlooking its tobacco policy - the so called tobacco directive. In its answer to the EU, the Swedish government is now openly urging the EU to legalise snus. The argument from the Swedish government is that the ban on snus goes against the free market. Sweden's Minister for Health and Social Affairs, Göran Hägglund writes that "there is no argument at all which motivates a ban on snus" (quote from Svenska Dagbladet) and he continues that snus is clearly less dangerous than cigarettes. Therefore he claimst that the ban on snus "lacks logic". But at the same time, experts in Sweden do not agree with Minister Hägglund. OCF The Swedish argument of 'harm reduction' with convincing smokers to insted start with snus is "a myth" according to these experts. Internal conflict in Sweden The problem today is that the tobacco issue has become a health issue in the EU as it has been moved to the EU's Directorate for health. This is why is the Swedish Minister for health and not for trade is answering the letter from the EU. This has created a conflict and a dilemma between Swedish authorities. The government's expert organs [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-05-23T20:47:46-07:00February, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

DoD asks troops to kiss the spit goodbye

Source: www.tradingmarkets.com Author: staff When the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) weighs in on kissing and spitting, it's with good reason--two good reasons, in fact: love and health. Using smokeless tobacco--spit, dip, chew, snus, etc.--can pose a stinky, unsavory obstacle to sharing a kiss with a loved one, parent, child or sweetheart. It also may cause a slew of serious health problems. That's why DoD/TRICARE(R) wants military personnel to participate in the Great American Spit Out (GASpO) on February 24, 2011, and kiss the spit goodbye for a day. Some 19 percent of 18- to 24-year-old men in the armed forces use smokeless tobacco, more than double the national rate. To help cut that number down, the DoD Quit Tobacco--Make Everyone Proud campaign at http://www.ucanquit2.org is focusing this month on helping those who spit and chew tobacco to develop a personalized quit plan and to take action that may get them more kisses and help them gain more years of a healthy life. "Many of our servicemen started using smokeless tobacco at a young age due to peer pressure and became addicted before realizing the negative effects it could have on their personal relationships and health," said Cmdr. Aileen Buckler, M.D., M.P.H., U.S. Public Health Service officer and chairman of the DoD Alcohol and Tobacco Advisory Committee. Throughout the month, the DoD website will host a special GASpO page, http://www.ucanquit2.org/facts/gaspo/, where service members can publicly post their pledge to quit. Capt. Larry N. Williams, U.S. Navy tobacco clinical cessation champion, [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-02-11T14:22:13-07:00February, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Tobacco industry adapts to world of fewer smokers

Source: The Tennessean Author: Anita Wadhwani By any name or variety you choose — call it snuff, dip, chew or plug — smokeless tobacco is making a comeback, and Tennessee farmers, factory workers and consumers are playing a major role in the renewed buzz. Farmers here and in Kentucky who once made a good living off raising burley tobacco for cigarettes have had to eliminate 40 percent of acreage devoted to that crop as demand has declined, while farmers who cultivate the dark tobacco used for chewing have been able to expand their fields by 22 percent in three years. Now, the massive marketing muscle of the nation's biggest tobacco companies — Altria Group and its subsidiary Philip Morris USA, which owns the 100-year-old U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. factory within view of the state Capitol, and R.J. Reynolds, which runs its smokeless operations out of a Memphis factory — are battling for market dominance. Together, the two manufacturers already control 90 percent of the American smokeless tobacco sector with brands such as U.S. Smokeless' Skoal and R.J. Reynolds' Kodiak. They're competing with new fruit- and mint-flavored products (some packaged to look like miniature cigarette packs) to attract a new generation of consumers and entice ex-smokers looking for nicotine- infused alternatives. Former cigarette smokers like Dave Kenner, 31, a construction worker making a pit stop at a West Nashville convenience store last week, said he switched to Red Seal Wintergreen smokeless because heavily taxed cigarettes cost too much — nearly $300 [...]

Charlotte Parker2011-02-04T12:24:02-07:00February, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

RJ Reynolds’ ads urge tobacco pouches for smokers

Source: washingtonexaminer.com Author: Emery P. Dalesio R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. is targeting people who resolve to quit smoking in the new year with advertisements suggesting they switch to its smokeless tobacco pouches, a move critics say is an attempt to keep people from quitting nicotine. The ads mark the company's first campaign aimed at getting smokers to switch to the pouches known as snus, which Reynolds introduced in early 2009, spokesman David Howard said Wednesday. The carefully worded ads suggest, but don't say directly, that the pouches are a way to help kick the smoking habit. Under federal law, companies cannot claim that tobacco products work as smoking cessation products. But tobacco companies would love for smokers to think of them that way as cigarette sales fall because of higher taxes, smoking bans and falling social acceptability. The No. 2 U.S. cigarette maker is advertising in major magazines this month its suggestion for a "2011 Smoke-Free Resolution" in some ads that show the tobacco-filled white pouches dropping from the sky like confetti. The ads promote the company's Camel snus — small pouches filled with tobacco that users stick between the cheek and gum. "If you've decided to quit tobacco use, we support you. But if you're looking for smoke-free, spit-free, drama-free tobacco pleasure, Camel Snus is your answer. Logon to the Pleasure Switch Challenge and see how simple switching can be. Camel Snus — it might just change the way you enjoy tobacco," one ad says. "At this time, there [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2011-01-01T18:06:48-07:00January, 2011|Oral Cancer News|

Reynolds targets smokers trying to quit with new snus campaign

Source: www.csnews.com Author: staff R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. wants cigarette smokers to consider Snus if they are trying to quit. According to the Winston-Salem Journal, the giant tobacco company has launched a national campaign marketing Camel Snus as a potential New Year’s Resolution solution for smokers. It’s the company’s first campaign aimed specifically at encouraging smokers to switch to Camel Snus, according to David Howard, a Reynolds spokesman. "A lot of adults make a decision to quit smoking this time of the year," said Howard in the report. "For those making that attempt, but still wanting the pleasure of tobacco, we’re saying ‘Here’s an option." Reynolds has run ads in large-circulation magazines such as Entertainment Weekly, People, Sports Illustrated, Time and US Weekly, as well as free and alternative publications, according to the report. In the "2011 smoke-free resolution" ad, Reynolds said it supports smokers who have decided to quit using tobacco. "But if you’re looking for smoke-free, spit-free, drama-free tobacco pleasure, Camel Snus is your answer," the ad’s text reads. The ads also contain a large warning that "smokeless tobacco is addictive." Howard said that the "drama-free" reference is aimed at adults who want to use tobacco products in restaurants, bars and other social outlets where smoking is discouraged or banned. Reynolds’ print ads are part of a "take the pleasure switch challenge" campaign tied to an age-restricted Camel Snus Web site. As might have been expected, some anti-smoking groups are upset by the ads. "The ads are trying [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-12-30T15:54:40-07:00December, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Burgeoning market for smokeless tobacco products

Source: www.acsh.org Author: staff Now for some more good news on the harm reduction front: While cigarette sales have fallen by 17 percent since 2005 due to robust health campaigns and steeper taxes, smokeless tobacco products sales have grown by an annual rate of approximately 7 percent, reports The Chicago Tribune. The increase in sales of smokeless tobacco products can be partially attributed to their invisibility. For addicted smokers stuck in a smoke-free office environment all day long, these products relieve them of their nicotine craving. Economic factors have also been responsible for the rise in smokeless tobacco sales since a can of premium Swedish snus can run not much more than half the cost of a pack of Marlboro cigarettes in places where state, county and city excise taxes are high. Perhaps the most intriguing element to this story is that the use of smokeless tobacco products is increasing even though advertisers aren’t allowed to market them as a safer alternative to cigarettes. “I wonder how these people get the message,” ponders ACSH's Dr. Elizabeth Whelan. Even though medical experts agree that quitting tobacco altogether is the ideal scenario, scientists admit that smokeless tobacco products are much less harmful than cigarettes. But the potential benefit of these products, says ACSH's Dr. Gilbert Ross, is often overshadowed by anti-tobacco camps that focus on the possibility of increased risks of oral cancer from smokeless tobacco products. Dr. Ross notes that this risk “is essentially nil in the kinds of highly purified [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-12-12T10:03:39-07:00December, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Snus smokeless tobacco: Less harmful than cigarettes, but not safe.

Source: WebMD By: Daniel J. DeNoon If you use snus, do you win or lose? Snus -- alternately pronounced snoose or snooze -- is a smokeless, flavored tobacco product very different from snuff. When placed between cheek and gum, it doesn't make you spit. Even its critics admit that snus is less harmful than other forms of smokeless tobacco. And it is far less harmful than cigarette smoking. So is snus a good thing? It would be a good thing if everyone who smoked cigarettes or dipped snuff switched to snus instead. It would be a good thing if snus were a way station on the road to quitting all forms of tobacco. It would even be a good thing if kids who would have become smokers became snus users instead. But despite all of that, mounting evidence suggests snus isn't a good thing -- and may be far worse than they appear. Snus: Less Harmful, But Not Safe Cigarettes are the world's most efficient nicotine delivery device. They are also the most deadly. Many of the most dangerous byproducts of cigarettes are created during the burning process. Smokeless tobacco products obviously don't burn. But smokeless tobacco is a major cause of oral cancer, pancreatic cancer, and esophageal cancer. Much of this risk comes from cancer-causing chemicals called nitrosamines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). And snuff products actually deliver more cancer-causing nitrosamines than cigarettes do. But nitrosamine content is far lower in snus than in snuff, says Stephen S. Hecht, [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-11-22T12:16:34-07:00November, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Refurbished York plant churning out Marlboro Snus, a new smokeless tobacco product

Source: www.dailypress.com Author: Jon Cawley From outside the non-descript facility on Merrimac Trail nothing indicates it's home to Marlboro Snus, a spit-less, smokeless tobacco product that company officials say is gaining significant market traction. Inside, processed tobacco is finely ground, cooked, flavored, pouched and packaged by automated machinery in sanitary "clean rooms." High-speed robots can produce 150 Snus packages — each containing six individual pouches of tobacco — per minute, officials said during a recent plant tour. The York manufacturing center is the only place making Snus (pronounced snoose). The tobacco product has been in limited production since late 2007 but began nationwide distribution in March. That marks a big turnaround for the once-idle York County plant that underwent a $100 million renovation and expansion beginning in 2006 and now employs 17 salaried and 30 hourly workers along with 54 contractors. During renovations, Philip Morris USA gutted the facility, located across from Anheuser Busch's Williamsburg-area brewery. It had been closed for about three years since the company discontinued production of an electrically heated smoking device. The facility was expanded by 33,000 square feet to 139,000 square feet and fitted with high-tech machinery specific to making and packaging Snus. That construction was partly funded by a $650,000 state and county grant, said Ed Tucker, a director with the U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Manufacturing Co. Tucker said Snus and its packaging are discreet and designed to appeal to consumers as smoking restrictions continue to tighten. He said that because Snus is cooked instead [...]

Oral Cancer Foundation News Team - A2010-10-02T14:28:58-07:00October, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

Snus increases miscarriage risk drastically

Source: The Swedish Wire Author: Johan Nylander Women who use snuff tobacco face 60% higher miscarriage risk. A Swedish study by the Karolinska Institute and Uppsala University warned that women who uses snus are 60 percent more likely to misscarry than average. “Stillbirth is probably one of the worst things that can happen to parents who are expecting a baby. That also snus increases the risk of this underlines the importance of being complete tobacco-free when you are pregnant”, Anna-Karin Wikström at the Uppsala University Hospital Women's clinic told newspaper Upsala Nya Tidning. Snus, a moist powder tobacco product that you consume by placing it under the lip, is said to be much less dangerous than smoking. But to take up snus in order to quit smoking may be contra productive. A woman who smokes just a few cigarettes a day has 40 percent higher risk of miscarriage. "Taking the help of snus to quit smoking is a bad option to protect children", said Anna-Karin Wikström. The study, that was launched more than ten years ago, involved almost 570,000 women. The small, teabag-like pouches, also called moist snuff, are used by nearly one million Swedes. Placed under the user's lip, they quickly deliver a nicotine rush to the blood and a strong salt and herbs flavour in the mouth. While cigarette sales have tumbled by 50 percent in Sweden over the past 30 years, snus is on the up, with sales rising from some 2,500 tonnes a year in the 1970s to [...]

Charlotte Parker2010-09-07T10:08:20-07:00September, 2010|Oral Cancer News|

A tough one to chew on: smokeless tobacco and teens

Source: Medscape Today Author: Mary E. Muscari, PhD, CPNP, APRN-BC, CFNS Introduction One would think that the mere image of a bulgy cheek spewing brown, foul-smelling goo would be more than enough to turn anyone, especially appearance-conscious teens, off of using smokeless tobacco (ST). But then, these media-savvy adolescents probably have discovered snus, a smoke- and spit-free tobacco. According to a recent article in Reuters,[1] the use of ST is on the rise among US teens, reversing a downward trend in tobacco product use by adolescents. The Reuters article cites comments made by Terry Pechacek, PhD, Associate Director for Science, Office on Smoking and Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in a report to a US Congressional Panel. Among his comments is the suggestion that ST-using Major League Baseball® (MLB) players may be influencing young men to take up the cancer-causing habit. In his report, Dr. Pechacek noted that "the recent increases in ST use by adolescent boys and young adult men and the increasing dual use of cigarettes and ST products may portend a leveling off or even a reversal in the decline in smoking, the perpetuation of nicotine dependence, and continuing high levels of tobacco-related disease and death in the country."[2] Given this grim outlook, healthcare professionals need to kick up their fight against teen tobacco use by increasing their focus on smokeless forms of tobacco. Smokeless Tobacco ST (also known as spit, plug dip, chaw, rack, spits, grizz, [...]

Charlotte Parker2010-07-10T06:34:38-07:00July, 2010|Oral Cancer News|