Confused but glad to be back

Well, folks, I quit snuffing a few years ago and started to vape: I have now quit vaping and started to snuff. After not looking at, or thinking about snuff for several years I am shocked at how a reversal in snuff literature has taken place. When I was taking snuff previously it was being held up as a virtual health risk-free alternative to smoking, experts from Dr. Rodu right the way over to the Cancer Research Society were suggesting that we could quit smoking with snuff and improve our health at the same time. Wilsons of Sharrow were openly touting the old, “we have been in business for over 200 years and never has a court case against us,” line and experts everywhere were encouraging us to move over to snuff and quit cigs, pipes, etc. Now I am back and what’s the difference?

I have spent a few hours looking for the positive health claims regarding snuff and they have all but disappeared, even the old argument that “we are dealing with English snuff and this is better for your health,” against the claim that Indian Snuff is really bad for you has disappeared. Wilsons are no longer proudly claiming that they have never had a case against them in 250 years of snuff manufacturing, instead, they currently have a warning on their site that this product is a risk for nose and sinus cancer. On the other hand, if you go over to the Poschl website they are currently (and blatantly) claiming that snuff has no risk what so ever for cancer. Now America as I understand it has a new take on the subject, apparently their government thinks that snuff causes oral cancer and their tins are now marked with wording to that effect. Wilsons and other snuff makers in England can no longer post snuff to the US. There are no longer experts telling us to switch to nasal snuff and cancer research UK has sod all to say on the subject.

Conclusion: According to the two biggest (arguably) snuff manufactures nasal snuff id no risk and is a risk for nasal and sinus cancer at the same time.  According to the US, however, it can give you oral cancer? Cancer Research UK has nothing to say on the subject. 

What’s going on folks. Have I missed some sort of important research during my absence? Opinions and thoughts gratefully received. 

To my knowledge there had been no research, only pointless rules and regulations forcing warning labels on everything. Im amazed we dont have a warning sign on various items in the store stating “This product may cause obesity”.

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Warning… living may result in death. We are living in the age of bad science, where skepticism is seen as denial, and emotional correlation equals causation. 

I haven’t been using snuff for long, but I did read pretty much everything I could find regarding potential health issues. I could find no research, new or old, that covered a large enough sample set to provide anything that even suggested a correlation. The conclusion that I came to is that snuff shares the same potential health risks related to nicotine. The rarity of nasal and sinus cancers suggests that if you are predisposed genetically to such a condition, it will occur regardless of your snuff use. 

I am not a scientist, nor am I a doctor(so take my words with the smallest grain of salt), but the current warnings seem to be an extrapolation of “risk” based on other forms of tobacco use.

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what’s happened is that snuff is plain and simple collateral damage. The laws that state they can’t make health claims aren’t aimed at snuff they’re aimed at tobacco in general. The laws about labeling aren’t aimed at snuff just at tobacco in general. Ironically the CDC and WHO are both becoming more open to harm reduction and the promotion of snus and snuff. The laws have changed and because snuff is a minor product without a lot of visibility it was an after thought at most. The warning labels were not aimed at snuff but all tobacco products period.

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Thanks for your comments guys. I guess that this is the case, the goverments are lumping it all together as one thing. Interestingly the same thing has been happening in the vaping world. If you look at what the experts are telling us about vaping it is no longer the innocent pass time that it was initaly thought to be. Now I can tell you something. I have turned back to snuff because I had become so utterly addicted to vaping it was almost 24/7. That cant be good for anyone. A sniff put out the fire quickly and easily.

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oh and these laws about ingredients and product testing and all that stuff are geared towards every single other tobacco product and make sense with them. Snuff not so much. Because it’s a very fringe activity and hobby. Sad but true. 

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