TUESDAY, Sept. 24, 2002 (HealthDayNews) -- Despite messages that snuff tobacco may help people quit smoking, it may actually do the opposite.
That's the finding of new research that appears in the October issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The study says people who use snuff are more likely to move on to smoking cigarettes.
Snuff is a finely milled tobacco product with nicotine. People who use it place a "pinch" or a "dip" of snuff between their lip and gum.
Study author Scott L. Tomar of the University of Florida College of Dentistry says his findings disprove suggestions that snuff may be a useful way to help people quit smoking.
"The prevalence of smoking was substantially higher among men who had quit using snuff than among those who had never used snuff, suggesting that more than 40 percent of men who had been snuff users continued or initiated smoking," Tomar says.
He analyzed data for men 18 and older contained in the 1998 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). It showed that 26.4 percent of American men smoked, 3.6 percent used snuff and 1.1 percent used both forms of tobacco.
In the NHIS report, 2.5 percent of former snuff users had become smokers, while 0.9 percent of former smokers were using snuff. That information suggests snuff may be a gateway to tobacco use, Tomar says.
More information
The Surgeon General has a strong caution for kids on smokeless tobacco.
