"We want to break down barriers and bring new consumers in," said Murray S. Kessler, president of UST Inc., maker of Copenhagen, Skoal and other brands of snuff.

Among the barriers to acceptance are getting used to keeping a wad of fine-cut tobacco between the cheek and gums, the need to spit tobacco juice, and health risks, including oral cancer. In an effort to break down the barriers and attract more snuff users, UST is unveiling a line of products that are easier and less conspicuous to use.

One item is snuff packed in tea-bag-like pouches, available in a variety of flavors and sizes, that hold the tobacco together in the mouth. Also in the works is a type of snuff that would eliminate the need to spit. "If this were to hit, we would blow away current profit-growth projections," said Kessler.

UST is considered a potential takeover target. The company has been approached by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Holdings Inc., the country's second-largest cigarette maker. With snuff the only part of the U.S. tobacco market growing, UST could become even more attractive to buyers with its new product line.

UST officials say they will target smokers who can't stop using tobacco. The company is using research conducted by Brad Rodu, a pathology professor at the University of Alabama, to show that snuff is "far safer" than cigarettes.

But Deborah Winn, an epidemiologist at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md., dismisses such claims. "Snuff is not safe because it contains cancer-causing substances. There is no safe tobacco in any form."

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