Smokeless Tobacco Use Increases Among Teenage Boys

Smokeless Tobacco Use Increases Among Teenage Boys
March 10, 2009

Research Summary

Smokeless tobacco use by adolescent males in the United States increased over a recent five-year period, HealthDay News reported March 5.

According to a new report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, smokeless tobacco use among males ages 12-17 increased from 3.4 percent to 4.4 percent between 2002 and 2007. By comparison, overall use of smokeless tobacco among all Americans ages 12 and older remained flat at roughly 3 to 3.3 percent during the same time period.

The report showed that among current smokeless-tobacco users, 85.8 percent also smoked cigarettes at some point in their lives. Among those who had used both smokeless tobacco and cigarettes, 31.8 percent first used smokeless tobacco, while 65.5 percent started smoking cigarettes first.

Men were more likely than women to be current smokeless-tobacco users, and 88.1 percent of daily smokers who started using smokeless tobacco were still smoking six months later -- arguing against the notion that smokeless tobacco could help smokers quit cigarette use.

COMMENTS ON THIS ARTICLE:

Posted by Bill Godshall on 11 Mar 09 11:22 AM EDT

Except that Monitoring the Future surveys have found no increase in smokeless tobacco use among boys between 2002 and 2007. http://www.monitoringthefuture.org/data/08data/pr08cig4.pdf Yet, overall sales/consumption of smokeless tobacco in the US have increased almost 50% since 2002. While smokeless tobacco products can be as addictive as cigarettes, daily smoking of cigarettes is 100 times deadlier than daily use of smokeless tobacco. Although no tobacco product is safe, daily use of smokeless tobacco poses a similar premature mortality risk (1 in 200) as driving or riding in an automobile. Importantly for public health, millions of smokers have significantly reduced their health risks by substituting or switching to smokeless tobacco products, many of which are similar to dissolvable nicotine lozenges. See: Tobacco harm reduction: an alternative cessation strategy for inveterate smokers http://www.harmreductionjournal.com/content/3/1/37

Posted by maxwood on 11 Mar 09 05:23 PM EDT

1. It is to be regretted that WHO did not acknowledge the safety difference that Bill points out, but merely stated that Snus was not a "safe" (the point is, it's safer) product. 2. If 11.9% (inferred from context) of smokers did quit cigarettes (not much worse than many other remedies), that argues for a multi-front approach: the would-be quitter should buy and try Snus, skin patch, gum, vaporizer, E-cigarette, and a 25-mg. single-toke utensil, all interspaced throughout as many days or weeks as warranted.

Posted by maxwood on 11 Mar 09 05:29 PM EDT

3. Treachery alert: in late 2008 flyers for Camel Snus appeared, offering a free portion of Snus WITH PURCHASE OF ANOTHER TOBACCO PRODUCT. (Of course, there are the cigarettes, right next door. Obviously not addressed to smokers seeking to quit cigarettes, but a trick to get more youngsters hooked on cigarettes...)

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