Dipping tobacco
Italic text
Dipping tobacco, also known as spit tobacco, is a form of smokeless tobacco. It is commonly referred to as dip while the act of using it is called dipping, having a dip, packing a lip, packing a dip, or throwing one (a dip) in, throwing a boy in or ready for a fatty. Chewing tobacco is often associated with this family of products.
Dip is sometimes mistakenly called "chew"; because of this, it is commonly confused with chewing tobacco. It is a version of the Swedish "snus" that was brought to America by Swedish immigrants in the 19th century. Instead of literally chewing on tobacco, a small clump of dip is 'pinched' out of the tin and placed between the lower or upper lip and gums. The dip rests on the inside lining of the mouth for approximately 30 minutes to an hour — ultimately the duration of a dip is determined by the user —where saliva carries nicotine to the inferior or superior labial arteries.
Dip tobacco, unlike the Swedish variant snus, often causes the user to produce excess saliva while dipping. This is typically spat onto the ground or in a bottle because swallowing can cause irritation to the esophagus, nausea, and vomiting — however, some (long-time) dippers can swallow the tobacco-caused saliva with no such effects[specify]. Smokeless tobacco is sometimes used in the workplace by employees, especially if the employer does not provide many cigarette breaks or if the employee is constantly using both hands during work (which doesn't provide opportunities for cigarette smoking). Dip is also used by many athletes and students to get nicotine without smoking[specify].
Smokeless tobacco companies
Connecticut-based UST Inc. held 62.5 percent of the market as of the third quarter of 2006, according to Morningstar.[specify] The company's brands include Copenhagen, Skoal, Rooster, Husky, and Red Seal. The next two largest entities are the Conwood subsidiary of Reynolds American Inc., and Swedish Match.
Dipping tobacco has many names besides simply dip. One can also refer to dipping tobacco as wad, puck, slug, chaw, lip, hawk, spit, chew, spice, hack, etc. The act of dipping also has similar names, eg. tossing one back, throwing in a lipper, loading up a puck, getting some wad, hawking a lip, packing a lip, engaging (or disengaging for the act of taking the dip out) References should be noted as most simply do not refer to it as chewing tobacco, a common mistake among those who often use the product.
In 2001, a type of dissolvable lozenge was developed by Star Scientific, sold and marketed under the brand names Ariva and Stonewall. The company claims that the product is "spit-less", and that its manufacturing process possibly reduces TSNA levels. In 2006, "spit-less" snus tobacco products were test-marketed by Altria Group Inc. (formerly Phillip Morris Companies) and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, under the names Taboka and Camel Snus[1].
Canadian and American "tins" generally differ in size;[citation needed] US tins are generally 34 grams[2] while Canadian tins are 15 grams.[citation needed] Smokeless tobacco products are also more expensive in Canada, comparatively.[citation needed] Prices for a 15 gram tin of average, popular brand smokeless tobacco are normally around $10-12 Canadian Dollars.[citation needed] As of November 2008, smokeless tobacco prices in Canada are scheduled to rise 64 percent, totalling approximately 10 dollars per tin. Though prices tend to vary more from one state to the next in the US, it is quite common to find the same brands of smokeless tobacco products in containers twice the size as Canadian ones, for around half the price.[citation needed] Canadian users wait longer for new products to be released and spend, depending on province, up to 40% more.[3] Many flavours are not released in Canadian markets until much later than American markets, due to Canadian tobacco denormalization laws.[4] As of September 2008, Canadian smokeless tobacco products are offered in 34 gram tins, identical in volume to their American counterparts. The price of these new tins are around fourteen dollars per 34 gram tin, negating the temoporary sixty four percent price hike that occurred briefly in the preceeding summer. The new price is uniform with pre-summer Canadian pricing- roughly forty cents per gram.
Legality
Based on what at the time was believed to be a strong association with cancer and a fairly low usage outside of North America and the Nordic countries, several countries have banned the sale (and in some cases the import) of dipping tobacco. Sale of dipping tobacco was banned in Australia and New Zealand in 1986 [5] and in most of the EU nations in 1992 [6]. Sweden was exempt from this ban because of the traditionally high usage of snus in that country.
In the USA it is legal to sell dip to persons aged 18 and older (except in Alabama, Alaska, New Jersey and Utah where the legal age to purchase tobacco is 19)
References
- ^ ABC News: Smokeless Tobacco: No Chewing, No Spitting, and Fewer Cancer-Causing Chemicals? Accessed on July 31, 2007.
- ^ Tins of Skoal Long Cut and Copenhagen Long Cut each are labelled "NT WT. 1.2 OZ. (34.02 g)."
- ^ Smokeless tobacco in Canada: deterring market development
- ^ A National Strategy ISBN 0-662-64463-8 Appendix C
- ^ eMJA: Availability of smokeless tobacco products in south Asian grocery shops in Sydney, 2004
- ^ British American Tobacco - EU Social Reporting - Issues
See also
External links
- Smokeout: Not as easy as ABC - Commentary - The Washington Times, America's Newspaper
- Effect of smokeless tobacco (snus) on smoking and public health in Sweden
- Tobacco harm reduction: an alternative cessation strategy for inveterate smokers. By Brad Rodu and William T. Godshall, published in December 2006 in Harm Reduction Journal.