Chewing Tobacco: Facts and Health Risks

Photo: David Buffington (Getty Images)

Chewing tobacco was once believed to be a healthier substitute for smoking cigarettes and cigars, especially because it is one of the oldest ways of consuming tobacco. Native Americans used to chew tobacco leaves long before European people set their feet in the American continent and by the end of the 19th century the habit became extremely popular and widespread, particularly in the South where almost everybody indulged in tobacco in some form, small children included. Gentlemen used to chew and spit leaves even in the fanciest public places, and women and girls preferred to dip in their houses, on the porches or in hotel parlors. The widespread use of chewing tobacco led to the development of the device called spittoon, useful for collecting spittle and tobacco residues. Even though the use of chewing tobacco declined over the decades and spittoons ended up in museums, it is not so uncommon at all to find out that this practice is still pretty much alive, primarily in the American Southeast. But is it just a harmless pleasurable custom or something that can put your health and even life in danger? Read on to learn more about it!

Useful Facts About Chewing Tobacco

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Chewing tobacco belongs to the category of smokeless tobacco products and it is consumed in a very simple way – you take a pinch of roughly chopped, dried and fermented tobacco, put it either between your cheek and the gum or under your lower or upper lip and start chewing and moving it around your mouth. It is not to be confused with dipping tobacco which is classier and usually finely ground – if you want to chew tobacco, you have to seriously crush it with your teeth to release its strong natural flavor and nicotine. Once you’re done with your pinch, you need to spit out the remains of tobacco leaves and unnecessary juices.

You can find it in different forms and choose to either indulge in basic loose leaves or scrap, pellets also known as bits or bites, and plugs – leaves combined with a sweetener. There is also a twist variety – these are strings of usually unsweetened tobacco twisted together, so small pieces of twists must be cut or bitten off prior to chewing.

Urban terms used by true professionals require you to throw in a hog, bum a lipper or take a fatty chaw for the jaw, all this as you stick with the brands such as Grizzly and Copenhagen if you don’t want to settle for less than the real thing. Watch out though if you’re not used to chews – after what seems an instant heavenly rush, things can get nasty especially if you’ve boldly decided to bite a huge wad. Start slowly if your don’t want to experience chewing tobacco side effects and spiral down into the nightmare of sweating, palpitations and overall uneasiness, dominated by some of the worst attacks of nausea in your life.

Is Chewing Tobacco Dangerous?

Photo: cdc.gov

It surely has many names and many different brands, but there doesn’t seem to be a totally safe way to chew tobacco. Don’t be fooled to think that smokeless stands for for harmless, because there is no harmless way to enjoy either the taste of smokeless or the smell of burning tobacco. In all of its versions, tobacco contains cancer-causing substances. While it may seem healthier to switch from smoking cigarettes to chewing tobacco leaves in order to avoid inhaling harmful fumes, munching those dry fermented leaves brings along some new equally strong health risks. Cancer is certainly not at bay – maybe you decreased the chances for getting lung cancer, but on the other hand the possibilities to end up having some sort of oral (cancers of throat, tongue, mouth, gums and lips) esophageal or even pancreatic cancer are going up, especially if you belong to those who like to keep tobacco in the mouth for prolonged periods, sometimes even hours at a time. Once you develop this nasty habit, it’s quite likely that you’ll have a favorite spot in your mouth for placing and keeping that precious pinch – the irritants from chewing tobacco will cause the swelling and inflammation of your oral mucosa, which can contribute to the development of gum disease and destroy your teeth: they won’t only look bad, they can even fall out. Constant pressure on the same part of your mouth calls for leukoplakia as well, white lesions that can some day turn into cancer. Your heart will be at the same risk it runs if you smoke cigarettes and cigars, and the addiction to nicotine won’t be less strong – your body won’t know the difference between ingested or inhaled nicotine. Yes, we know you like it and yes, we know you think it’s cool, but yes, it IS dangerous. Excuses won’t work, you’ll have to take both the risks and the responsibility.

Who are the Users of Chewing Tobacco?

Photo: AP Photo/Joe Skipper

You might be surprised, but there is an estimated crowd of more than 6 million Americans who regularly practice stuffing their mouths with some form of smokeless tobacco. They come from different walks of life – many of them are baseball players, but you’ll find them among businessmen, MMA fighters, soldiers, football players and Hollywood stars as well. Baseball players have been the most visible group among modern users of spit tobacco – it is believed that they opted for chew so that their mouths could stay moist on the dusty fields. As what is said to be a notable number of players who used to chew tobacco suffered or eventually died of some form of oral cancer, Major League Baseball players were prohibited to use smokeless tobacco by the bargaining agreement issued in 2016. One of the major advocates of banning chewing tobacco from baseball was Bill Tuttle, who had several parts of his mouth and the right cheekbone surgically removed due to cancer that was most probably the result of his avid munching over the long years of his successful career. He died after a hard five-year battle with cancer, but he dedicated the end of his life to speaking publicly against the use of chewing tobacco and was actively involved in the NSTEP – National Spit Tobacco Education Project.

Have you ever tried chewing tobacco and what are your experiences? Share your advice with us!