Chewing tobacco is a common type of smokeless tobacco. Smokeless tobacco products consist of tobacco or a tobacco blend that’s chewed, sucked on or sniffed, rather than smoked.

There are many types of smokeless tobacco products around the world. In the United States, the main types of smokeless tobacco are

  • Snuff. This is finely ground or shredded tobacco leaves. It’s available in dry or moist forms and is packaged in tins or tea bag like pouches. A pinch of snuff is placed between the lower lip and gum or cheek and gum. Dry forms of snuff can be sniffed into the nose. Using snuff is also called dipping.
  • Chewing tobacco. This consists of loose tobacco leaves that are sweetened and packaged in pouches. You put a wad of the tobacco between your cheek and gum and hold it there, sometimes for hours at a time. It’s also called chew and chaw. Usually you spit out the tobacco juices, but if you’re more addicted, you may tend to swallow some of the juices.
  • Snus. Snus (pronounced snoos) is a newer smokeless, spitless tobacco product that originated in Sweden. It comes in a pouch that you stick between your upper lip and gum. You leave it there for about a half hour without having to spit, then discard it.
  • Dissolvable tobacco. These are pieces of compressed powdered tobacco, similar to small hard candies. They dissolve in your mouth, requiring no spitting of tobacco juices. They’re sometimes called tobacco lozenges, but they’re not the same as the nicotine lozenges used to help you quit smoking.
  • Other products. In some parts of the country, smokeless tobacco also comes in the form of plugs and twists. Plugs are tobacco compressed into a brick shape, and twists are braided and twisted tobacco. You hold a piece between your cheek and gum, and spit out the tobacco juices.

It’s my life . body . smoking

Cnn interactive – tobacco under attack

It’s just one wow! That little thing has over 4,000 chemicals in it! You already know that cigarettes contain Nicotine, but did you know that Nicotine is also used in bug spray? Before you decide to light up, you might want to know just what it is that you’re inhaling. Below are
Topics on Smoking
The Smoking Scene
Health Hazards
What’s In A Cigarette?
Peer Pressure
Help Someone To Quit
AnimAction
What You Can Do
From the Mentors
just a few of the other chemicals found in cigarettes

  • Tar. This ingredient, which gives cigarettes flavor, is the same thick black substance used to pave roads and driveways.
  • Formaldehyde. This is the same stuff used to preserve dead animals, like the frogs dissected in some biology classes.
  • Cyanide, which is also a main ingredient in rat poison.
  • Lead. It’s also found in some kinds of paint.
  • Acetone, which is a common ingredient in paint and nail polish remover.
  • Ammonia. Besides the fact that it’s in many household cleaners, it’s also in cigarettes.
  • Carbon monoxide, a common pollutant and the same stuff that escapes from the exhaust in cars.
  • Hydrazine, a chemical used in jets and rocket fuel.

To give you an idea of the harm these substances can do, picture the thick gooey ness of tar. The average smoker inhales about one cup of tar a year. Because a smoker’s lungs often don’t work as well as they should, the tar may stick and stay in there for a long time. Tar also hurts the “cilia” in a person’s airway, which are tiny hairs that protect the lungs by sweeping out mucus and germs. Tar, like many of the other chemicals in cigarettes, can cause diseases related to how we breathe, like emphysema and bronchitis.

Okay, so you know the facts. Now, read what do you when you’re facing Peer Pressure to smoke.

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