Ever heard of snus? If not, you probably will. From today's Chicago Tribune:

… snus, a pouch tobacco product that in little more than a generation has radically transformed the tobacco consumption habits of Swedish men and, according to a growing stack of medical research, has significantly lowered their risk of smoking-related diseases.
…
Snus -- the Swedish word for snuff -- is what the tobacco industry describes as a "spit-free smokeless tobacco product." Swedish snus delivers a powerful nicotine punch, but with far lower levels of carcinogens than cigarettes. … You tuck the sachet or a glob of loose snus behind your upper lip.

Thirty years ago, 43 percent of Swedish males smoked; today the figure is 14 percent, the lowest in the industrialized world. … daily snus use among males grew from 9 percent to about 23 percent. Overall tobacco consumption in Sweden has not dropped much, but researchers are impressed by a significant statistical decline in lung cancer and other smoking-related diseases among Swedish men.

In Sweden, the main argument in favor of snus is that it seems to help people quit smoking. It satisfies their nicotine craving with a tobacco product that is just as addictive but far less harmful than cigarettes. "The trouble is, if we say that snus is less harmful than cigarettes, it is perceived as being a little less harmful. In reality, snus is much less harmful," [says Ramsmtrom, an authority]. … much lower levels of cancer-causing nitrosamines. Several recent studies … have shown no increased incidence of oral, head or neck cancers … . … has reduced smoking among males, lowered the risk of associated cancers and produced an overall public health benefit.

… has kindled a debate … whether snus should be encouraged as a safer alternative to smoking, or discouraged as just another harmfully addictive tobacco product. And … the biggest cigarette marketer in the U.S., Philip Morris, is dipping its fingers into the market too …

This message has been edited. Last edited by: shufitz,

Give it a try and see if it works!

Ladies may also enjoy a snus-full

snoose??

(heard 50 yrs ago in N.Dak.; Norw., yeah sure, you betcha)

My late father used it, and he was not Norwegian. A tiny bit of Swede in the family, but not enough to count linguistically.

Up in Swedetown, Wisconsin, my uncle Edwin Benson chewed Copenhagen. Got mouth cancer, too, but it didn't kill him. He died a couple of decades later in his eighties.