Prevention of Tobacco Use

Tobacco Products

 

There are many tobacco-related products currently available on the market. Cigarettes, cigars and pipe tobacco are the more common products but there are also smokeless versions of tobacco which include chew and snuff. Smokeless tobacco, like cigarettes, cannot legally be sold to youth under the age of 19 in Ontario.

 

Cigarettes, Cigars & Pipe Tobacco

 

Tobacco smoke from cigarettes, cigars and pipes contains over 4,000 chemicals, including at least 50 that can cause cancer. Some of the poisons inhaled include:

• Acetone (paint stripper)
• Arsenic (ant poison)
• Cadmium (substance used in car batteries)
• Carbon monoxide (poisonous gas in car exhaust)
• DDT (insecticide)
• Formaldehyde (preserver for organic specimens)
• Hydrogen cyanide (poison used in gas chambers)
• Lead
• Mercury
• Urethane (substance used in solvents and pesticides)
• And many more…

Smokeless Tobacco

 

In addition to the more common tobacco products such as cigarettes, cigars and pipe tobacco, the use of smokeless tobacco seems to be on the rise, especially in youth. There are over 3,000 chemicals in smokeless tobacco including at least 28 known to cause cancer. 

 

The tobacco industry is aggressively marketing smokeless tobacco to youth by offering flavours such as vanilla or cherry and packaging the product in bright colours. 

 

There are two main forms of smokeless tobacco both of which contain the addictive chemical nicotine:

 

Chew tobacco is found in a compressed brick-like form or in a twisted rope-like form and is gnawed upon inside the mouth.

 

Snuff tobacco is found in powdered form that is either dry or moist.  Dry snuff is sniffed through the nose.  The more common moist snuff is packed between the bottom lip and lower gum.

 

The actual concentration of cancer-causing chemicals is much higher in these forms of tobacco than in cigarettes.  One dose of smokeless tobacco (often called a "dip" or "pinch") held in the mouth for the usual 30 minutes, releases as much nicotine to the body as smoking 4 cigarettes.   

 

Disturbingly, 20 % of current smokeless tobacco users believe it is a safe alternative to cigarette smoking – It is not.

 

Chew or snuff tobacco can cause:

 

• Cracked lips
• Bleeding and receding gums
• Sores of the mouth that don't heal
• Pre-cancerous lesions 

Or worse:  

 

• Mouth and throat cancer can occur within 5 years of use
• High blood pressure, heart disease and stroke