Smokeless tobacco is often referred to as “spit” or “spitting tobacco” because users will suck on the tobacco and spit out the tobacco juice.

Smokeless Tobacco Types

• The first form is chewing tobacco. This can be found in the form of loose leaf, plug or twist tobacco. 
• The second popular form is snuff tobacco.  This is finely ground tobacco, which can be used by sniffing or inhaling into the nose, however, the more popular way to use smokeless tobacco is to place a small amount between the gum and cheek.
• A third, newer form of smokeless tobacco is also spitless. It comes in small pouches that look like teabags. It is used the same way as snuff. However, because the tobacco is contained in a pouch, the user does not have to spit it out.

A smokeless tobacco user that dips or chews 8-10 times a day may absorb as much nicotine as someone who smokes 30-40 cigarettes per day.

Smokeless tobacco is not safe to do instead of cigarette smoking.

• New smokeless and spitless tobacco products are not a safe alternative to cigarettes or other tobacco products.
• Smokeless tobacco has been found to have 28 cancer-causing agents (meaning they are known to cause cancer in humans). 
• Smokeless tobacco users have a higher risk of oral health problems, such as receding gums and leukoplakia (a tear in the mouth that looks like a white patch or plaque that cannot be scraped off).
• Using smokeless tobacco can lead to becoming addicted to nicotine.
• Youth who experiment with smokeless tobacco are more likely to become cigarette smokers.

For More Information

United States Department of Health and Human Services

Chewfree.org

Related Programs and Services

Quit Tobacco Programs in Franklin County

Quit for Good - Free counseling and nicotine replacement therapy. For more information, call (614) 645-0268.