I was thinking about chewing tobacco and ciggerettes. Theres tons of information on the dangers of smoking but I never see much about chewing tobacco. I know it can give you mouth cancer which results in rather gross surgery, but what are the actual odds of that happening to someone? Also, how would you compare chewing tobacco to ciggerettes? I dont think people get as much bad stuff from chewing tobacco, because you use less tobacco and you arent actually smoking (this could be totally wrong, I’m just guessing). Any have good facts on this?
I think chewing get’s less bad press becuase it doesn’t bother people as much. When around smokers (even 20 feet away or in a different room) you can smell the smoke, you inhale the smoke (we won’t get into second hand smoke), it get’s in your clothes, hair etc… Basically, when someone is smoking EVERYONE knows it. OTOH the only people who really know that you are chewing are the people around you. IMHO chewing is a lot grosser then smoking, but I like the faint smell of smoke as it drifts into the room. Anyways, I think that’s the main reason, until people find a way to prove that one person chewing puts others in danger, I don’t think it will be much of an issue. I can’t think of another good example, but off the top of my head, let’s say that we’re talking about loud music. Let’s say that I live in a town about half made up of college students that have loud parties. During these parties I can always here the music blasting away to all hours of the night. So I get together with other people in the neighboorhood to try and shut them up. The angle we use is that this loud music is going to ruin their hearing and will cause problems for the rest of their lives (but really it just bothers me). Now if they were all using headphones and blasting the music, they would be doing just as much (or more) damage to their hearing, but since I don’t hear it I really don’t care. Does that make sense. Basically, one person couldn’t see or smell other smoking, and the only way to even know they were smoking was to be right there next to them, I don’t think smoking would be as big of a deal. It’s the fact that it bothers other people that it’s become such a big deal. Does that make sense or am I just rambling?
Chewing tobacco comes in stronger doses of nicotine, with all the increased health risks and addiction. It increases your chances of oral cancer which is not only very nasty and ‘gross’, but has high mortality rates. (Almost 2/3 of all suffers die within 5 years of diagnosis.)
Apart from the cancer it also damages your gums and teeth. So lots of dental problems too. Not to mention the bad breath and the spitting habit.
True, it won’t do much to damage your lungs and doesn’t stink so much. But hardly counts as a suitable alternative to smoking. It’s also worth considering that oral cancer is no ‘grosser’ that lung cancer, just a lot more visible.
A good article here that explain just what you’re putting in your mouth: “N-Nitrosamines and Benzopyrene; irritants such as hydrazine, cadmium, formaldehyde and acetaldehyde; nuclear waste such as uranium 235 and polonium 210; and varying concentrations of a highly addictive drug, nicotine.”