Crash Victims Info

Smokeless Tobacco Use Dangers?

I am a critical thinker. I expect you to be the same if you choose to answer. The US Surgeon General has stated that smokeless tobacco use is not a safe alternative to smoking. However, there seems to be a dearth of data regarding just how bad the stuff is for your health (for the purposes of this question, ignore aspects such as social stigma, teeth stain, which coffee is quite good at doing as well, etc. and focus only on prevalence of serious dental maladies and the big C - cancer). We have seen pictures of mangled faces of those who have had operations removing cancerous lesions, but what these pictures don't reveal is how often this happens, and with how much use. Think about this: I can show you countless pictures of people mangled by automobile crashes, yet we all drive every day. I am looking for any hard data (cite studies, please) that describes findings on the relative risks inherent in dipping smokeless tobacco. Please only respond if you are aware of such data.

Public Comments

1. It can be difficult to separate the various types of tobacco use in the statistics: cigarettes, pipes, cigars, smokeless. http://www.oralcancerfoundation.org/dental/pdf/oral_cavity.pdf http://www.oralcancerfoundation.org/facts/ Specifically smokeless tobacco http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Tobacco/smokeless
2. Spreedog is absolutely right. For a good review see this article: J Oral Pathol Med. 2007 Feb;36(2):63-77. Similarly, go to pubmed.com and search "oral, cancer, smokeless tobacco" and look through the abstracts. The data about the risk is not in doubt, only the knowledge of the exact steps in molecular pathogenesis need to be worked out. Even if it wasn't why chance it? You know the effects of hydrochloric acid are well known on surfaces that need cleaning/etching. Why would you assume the effect of it on your skin would be any different? That's a weak argument style I know, but if there really were no data to support it, it would be exercising common sense, which sometimes is the best data of all. God bless, best wishes