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Two Types of Smokeless Tobacco

The two main types of smokeless tobacco are snuff and chewing tobacco. Nicotine absorption occurs through the mucous membranes as a user sucks on the snuff or chews on the chewing tobacco. Roughly one-third of users are under the age of 21, while the majority of all users begin by the ninth grade.

  1. Snuff

    • Snuff is moist or dry smokeless tobacco available in strips, lozenges and pouches. Snuff is chopped more finely than chewing tobacco. Sometimes snuff is ground into a powder and placed inside sachets. According to "The Maxwell Report: The Smokeless Tobacco Industry," in 2009, moist snuff occupied 75.3 percent of the U.S. market for smokeless tobacco products. The tobacco is usually sold in mint, fruit or original flavors. Users can also inhale snuff through their nose. 

    Chewing Tobacco

    • Chewing tobacco is available loose or as twists or bricks in various flavors. According to "The Maxwell Report: The Smokeless Tobacco Industry," in 2009, loose leaf occupied 22.2 percent of the U.S. market for smokeless tobacco products. The tobacco is cut in three different styles: fine, long and original. Unlike snuff, chewing tobacco creates a buildup of saliva, which the user must spit out or swallow.

    Cancer

    • A misconception is that smokeless tobacco does not cause cancer. According to the World Health Organization, in 2007, smokeless tobacco products contained 28 cancer-causing agents. The National Cancer Institute states no safe form of tobacco exists. Instead smokeless tobacco simply causes different types of cancer such as oral, esophageal and pancreatic cancers. However, smokeless tobacco is only half as likely to cause oral cancer as cigarettes.

    Other Health Problems

    • Just as smoked tobacco may cause health problems other than cancer, so does smokeless tobacco. By far the best-known is various forms of mouth decay including gum recession, tooth decay and gum disease. Leukoplakia, a precancerous lesion that cannot be removed without surgery, manifests itself as a white patch on any soft tissue in the mouth. Regarding reproduction, smokeless tobacco may cause sperm reduction in men, and premature birth and low birth weight in the babies of mothers who use smokeless tobacco during pregnancy.

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