10/15/07 Snus

My oldest son, a college pitcher spent the better part of his University years addicted to chewing tobacco. Last year he decided to quit and he remarked it was one of the hardest things he has ever done. Quitting his chewing habit might have been easier if a new product called Snus, a reduced risk tobacco from Sweden had been available. Despite the fact that Snus is considered to be one of the reasons Sweden has the lowest smoking rate of all European nations it is a tough product for our FDA to recon with as currently no provision exist for marketing reduced risk tobacco. A House committee is meeting to determine if reduced risk tobacco can even be regulated while Phillip Morris and RJ Reynolds are waiting with baited breath for what could be an extremely lucrative new marketing category. Similar to chewing tobacco Snus is tucked between the cheeks and gums but unlike a chew is not spit, yuck! It does contain nicotine and can be addictive, some studies suggest it could be linked to pancreatic cancer but has not been shown to cause mouth or lung cancers.