I recall entering a police station in Surrey in the mid 1970s to enquire about the whereabouts of a venue, chatting to the desk sergeant and finally offering him my box, which he accepted and took with aplomb. He left for a moment and returned with a tin of his own, which was medicated, to return the gesture. He thought I was going to be surprised that he took snuff. He was right. I was. My companion was also surprised and suggested that I didn’t attempt the same trick with an officer in the Met. Although Albert Pierrepoint was a well-known licensee and prolific executioner and not a policeman I met him as a participant in a studio audience hosted by Kilroy-Silk in London. He had several pinches of my snuff without sneezing before leaving with some of his ex-police chums. There can’t be many people who have had a hangman dip fingers into their box: fingers that pinioned, hooded and noosed hundreds of people. ‘Our Albert’, although quite old at the time, was still a sprightly Northern lad (quite different from Timothy Spall’s morose portrayal in the film) and, like the desk sergeant, keen to demonstrate that snuff held no surprises whatsoever.
I was stopped by a police officer who happened to be off duty in a coffee shop. I was taking snuff out of a bullet and he assumed I was doing cocaine. I showed him what it was and had him smell it (Dholakia chocolate), and he just chuckled a bit and let me continue my coffee.
I used to have to work with an off duty cop that gave me a dirty look every time he saw me take snuff. He never said anything but that might’ve been because he was too lazy to do much more than breathe.
On the question about rehab: I entered myself into a rehab program to deal with another drug addiction issue, and, like someone else said, about 95% of the people in rehab are cigarette smokers(as well as coffee-fiends!). Every hour, on the hour, (or sooner), we would be given a smoke break. There was also a few pipe smokers, as well as a few dippers. I was the ONLY one in my program that was a snuff taker. I decided to ask the Medical Director at my rehab what his opinions on Nasal Snuff were. His opinions were about what I expected: snuff taking isnt recommended of those in rehab, due to the fact that many people in the program are addicts of other insufflated drugs, and that snuff could potentially be a trigger for them to return to their drug of choice. The doctor did, however, say that he was proud of me for reducing my cigarette intake drastically when I switched to snuff, and that he thinks smokeless tobacco options are a much healthier choice for nicotine!
I wouldn’t say that we don’t have a tradition of nasal snuff in the States, seeing as our Senate has two snuffboxes, and one of the first ten trademarks ever granted here was for Garrett snuff. Maybe it’s the state I live in (Michigan), but I’ve never had any problem taking snuff in public, and I can count on one hand the individuals who did not recognize it right away as being snuff.
Well, we did have a snufftaking tradition up until the mid 1800s, when more and more snuff use shifted to oral use. Many of the snuffs that were made prior to this change in tradtion are still made today. Sadly we have lost all but two of the non scotch snuffs. In Michigan, there seems to have been a brief resurgance of snufftaking in the early to mid 20th century by the large influx of Polish immigrants. For awhile Kashubian (Polish) snuff was made in Detroit. Do a search on the site for Kashub snuff or Goike’s. I’m sure it was taken in other places as well where there were large Polish populations (Milwaulkee, Chicago, etc.). Also sadly that seems to have disappeared as well. Its up to us to revive the tradition. Doing it openly in public is the only way to spread awareness.
And hey, if you’re in sex rehab… better not watch any tv… too close to…
I’ve been a cop for 21 years, all in central London. I’m a Sergeant on a team in the East End at the moment. I’ve used snuff all my adult life - in the station and in my private life - and no one has ever batted an eyelid. I think maybe the English have a residual memory of snuff use. It’s seen as an eccentricity but not viewed with suspicion - at least in my experience. Cops in the UK have a wide range of search powers and these are used extensively in policing. The upshot is that cops in London get very experienced with what drugs look like and barring some new boy in the job making a mistake I can’t see anyone I know making an arrest for carrying snuff. Snuff is tobacco - we know what tobacco is.
It is funny how all the so-called reformed drug users refuse to try snuff, for fear its to much like there former habit. When it comes to law enforcement I’ll use my snuff bullets right there in front of them. When i spoke to a city counsel member about a new paraphernalia law the chief of police wanted to have approved. I simply busted out my bullets in my pocket and told this is used for tobacco; now it could be used for something else. (I told him) However this law would make it illegal for me to have this item because it could be used for nefarious purposes. I have busted out full tins of snuff and partook of the pleasure in front of the city attorney, judges, congressmen, mayor, city counsel, ect. And I have been hard pressed to be asked what i was doing… Now drug users and the reformed on the other hand have all gone bug-eyed on me; they are the fun ones to tease!!!
ibild you reminded me of a good way to spot pot smokers in a small group. Slowly pull a sandwich baggie out of your pocket and see who looks excited untill they realize it’s something else.
"The case will be dropped once the results come back negative from the lab but in the meantime you have been permanently booked into the state computer system with a mug shot, fingerprints, and a criminal record you will now have to get expunged. Though you were not convicted, you will now be obligated to answer “yes” as to whether you have ever been charged with a felony."
WTF? My second paragraph shows on the text box, but it’s not posting in the above entry. While the first part of this statement is true, anytime you go to jail you get put into the computer, the second part of this statement is largely incorrect. You are required to answer yes when asked “have you ever been convicted of a felony” (if you have been), but to ask if you have ever been charged with a felony is illegal. Also, it is highly unlikely it would even make it to that stage. Before you are charged with a felony, a prosecuting attorney has to present evidence to a grand jury making the case for your felony charge. A simple lab test would quickly throw out your charges as there is no illegal substance. So providing you didn’t get irate and add to your charges, you would be immediately released.
I wouldn’t worry too much about it. I really think the worse thing that would happen is that you’d get an unnesccary lecture about how close you came to get arrested and how maybe you should use other tobacco in public.
@ snuffegnugen I just applied to renew my Notary Public license last week. The state application form asked me whether I had ever been “charged with a crime, other than a simple traffic offense.” So I doubt it is illegal to ask if you have ever been charged. I had to disclose my underage drinking violation from college, even though the case was dismissed by the judge in the end.
Worth remembering that being arrested and being charged are two different things. A charge is a legal requirement to answer to a court and comes from being arrested for an offence and sufficient evidence exists for the matter to dealt with by a court. You can be arrested on suspicion of carrying out an offence (which actually covers most cases) but then be released without charge if it is apparent no offence has taken place. In the UK, the arresting officer has to explain the reasons for arrest to a Segeant who then authorises or denies detntion according to his interpretation of the facts relayed by the arresting oficer. I would suugest at this point the custody Sergeant would realise the substance was tobacco and release the individual with apologies and I would hope some words of advice to the arresting officer. In this case, no offence has taken place, no charge exists and the matter is complete.
@lincoln, I don’t know what the background checks for acquiring your notary public license are, but I work for the US government, and I know that for hiring purposes the only thing that will get you is convictions. The whole premise of our legal system in the US is that you are innocent until proven guilty. I know there is often a stigma associated with being charged with a crime, but if a charge was dismissed, or you were found not guilty by a jury that should go away. I’m not arguing with you by any means, but if merely being accused of a crime follows you around forever, that is bullsh*t and the system is flawed. It’s almost like being a witch, even though there is no evidence to support the claim, you are branded as such.
@snuffegnugen - I specifically said “charged” instead of convicted. There are many situations in which a person might be asked about charges. For hiring purposes, many private companies use generic background searches which will turn up an arrest charge. The criminal history (known in police lingo as a QH) will show 1-0; meaning one arrest and zero convictions for example. 1-1 denotes one charge and one conviction and so forth. Ideally, only convictions are supposed to be held against you. However, you are deluding yourself if you think a charge on your record will not draw attention and make an impression. The last three years of my career I was a Jail Supervisor and had to approve each arrest brought in during my shift. This adds another of many layers of filtering to ensure arrests are being done properly and legally. Not all cases are bound over to a grand jury either. Once you are booked in and your data is sent via computer to Austin, Texas, it’s there for good unless expunged or sealed. Yes, the system is flawed in that regard and you are branded. In any case, I posted to answer someone’s specific questions. I had no intention of causing alarm or outrage. I use snuff in public all of the time. The scenario I mentioned is real and possible but very unlikely. My advise would be to enjoy your snuff and stay away from illegal or suspicious activities that would give police a reason to believe it is anything else. I have to agree with what someone said earlier, the best way to tear down the wall of ignorance is by the snuff community using their snuff and educating the public about it. In time, paradigms shift.
Hey, what ever happened to whistlrr??
Banned
I guess I can add a relevant story about pipe tobacco and the cops. Anyways a few years back some friends and I were drinking beers in a park (illegal sadly) and I was smoking my pipe. Anyways a cop rolled up in the parking lot, and gave a quick once over of my car. Stupidly we had left a case sitting on the passenger seat minus a few beers which we had with us at a picnic table. Thankfully once we saw the cop pull into the parking lot we quickly tossed the bottles into a nearby bunch of bushes leaving a group of 4 guys just sitting at a bench, with one smoking a pipe. Needless to say any cop is justified in questioning what the hell we were doing and he did just that. Being university aged at the time, he automatically assumed my pipe was full of marijuana and demanded I hand it over. I willingly complied and he sniffed the bowl to investigate. Apparently this smell test didn’t erase his suspicions so he proceeded to bang the pipe against the park bench until all the tobacco had come out and was scattered around the table. Long story short their was no weed in the pipe and he really ought to have just believed me when I told him it was tobacco. On one hand I couldn’t blame him because he had probably never seen tobacco being smoked from a pipe in public before, but on the other he really abused his power. To me it seems like emptying someones pipe is akin to making them empty their pockets which is something that they can’t do unless they have reasonable suspicion a crime is being committed. Not snuff related but still good in my opinion