Do you ever get this? When I snuff I get super fidgety and am prone to chew on something. I’ll chew and fidget with this Bic pen cap which I’ve basically kept in my mouth for months now. When I don’t chew and fidget with it I subconsciously put it in my pocket even! Lol! Cause I know I’ll be needing something to fidget with in a while very soon. A Bic pen cap is pretty handy to spoon snuff with by the way. If I dont have that to chew on or fidget with I clench my fists or strain some other muscles or something… I have to do something. It’s not like with other stimulating drugs where you have to chew the hell out of stuff, with snuff the drive is just enough to just lightly clench some muscles. Lightly does it. My pen cap isnt chewed flat, just a little rough around the edges, hehe. But still, the need is there. Also, the curious thing about snuff is it doesnt counteract with coffee like cigarettes and snus does. Snus and cigarettes will calm down the caffeine and make the nicotine feel rewarding. The combo is great. But when I snuff with coffee I just get even more stimulated trying to find a line of satisfaction which becomes more vague and abstract. Also, I’m wondering, does anybody feel they become more talkative/chatty/outgoing on snuff? Any reactions of this nature?
Yeah snuff is definitely a lot more stimulating than other forms of tobacco use and I’ve experienced some of that stuff (though not the muscles) when I was starting and with particularly strong snuffs. Even now after a pinch I feel like I become more animated for a few minutes. If I take a pinch during a good conversation I’ll often have some small rush of ideas for 30-60 seconds. I think as your tolerance goes up it becomes a lot more fleeting, unfortunately. The hardcore African snuffs (NTSU etc.) with large pinches make me feel like my heart is beating uncomfortably fast and I have to get up and pace around and experience some anxiety (yeah I guess I’m a wimp). If it’s uncomfortable just take smaller pinches really, snuff is so easy to titrate.
It’s not uncomfortable, but I have to experience this “side-effect” in order to get to achieve the level of satisfaction. I was just basically wondering if snuffers generally feel a bit more stimulated than otherwise… and people’s experiences and thoughts on the subject. It’s rather nice that it is doing something, as opposed to e-cigs which don’t do anything. I wouldn’t say my experience is uncomfortable or negative, I’d probably say it’s positive if anything. I notice if I drift out of hearing someone talk or grow tired from someones conversation (lol), a pinch picks me right up and gets me mentally in the conversation again. In this respect it would be a wondrous “drug” to have used back in my days in school as I would drift out of my teachers lesson-at-hand all the time.
I notice if I drift out of hearing someone talk or grow tired from someones conversation (lol), a pinch picks me right up and gets me mentally in the conversation again. In this respect it would be a wondrous “drug” to have used back in my days in school as I would drift out of my teachers lesson-at-hand all the time.
I agree completely! it couldve totally saved my ass.
This is the reason I keep my nicotine tolerance low, so as to enjoy the unique stimulating effects of snuff, which for me are very much in the mind. It focuses the brain, sharpens concentration, and even offers lovely tingly sensations. If you use other strong tobacco products and your N tolerance rises, you lose this benefit, hence the reason why I only use 8mg snus (the lowest strength).
I too find it has some stimulating effect, despite that I have a huge tolerance for nicotine. Just last night I was trying to read before bed and wanted to get through just one more chapter (of course ; ) and a pinch of Viking Dark gave me the perk needed to get through before turning in.
Nicotine has been proven to help with reaction times, attention spans, staying focused, and ADD/ADHD, per a talk that an addiction counselor gave at the 2013 Chicago pipe show, and many people learn to self medicate with it. I know it definitely helps me stay focused.
@SnuffySnuff, There are 4mg snus available. Usually the mini portions are only 4mg. A few exceptions, but most are. Of course they are half the size , 20 per can, and roughly the same price as regular portions. I get samples now and then and use 3 at a time, but then my regular snus diet consists of mostly strong (10-13mg) snus .
I’m a bit prone to insomnia. Dholakia white in excess before bed definitely exacerbates it. I need to find some middle nic snuffs for that time. Ciggarettes used to have the same effect – but not a pipe, for some reason.
I must admit some of my best ideas and work are to be credited to some strong snuffs during the wee small hrs. I remember a particularly busy evening when I think I made a personal snuffing record amount of some Bernards…I still remember being so awake and wired by the time I got home…must try that again…can agree with many sentiments above…
@bigmick thanks for the info but I only use loose snus and the lowest strength seems to be 8mg. I like Ettan which doesn’t raise my N tolerance to a level that spoils the snuff buzz.
Quite right. 8mg is the lowest choice in lös snus, but it’s 8mg per gram so you can just use less than a gram. Ettan is a great snus. I slightly prefer Grov in lös, but it’s a tough choice.
@SnuffySnuff i dont know if im missing the point here, but if you are using los, whats wrong with just using half the amount? its not 8mg per however much you put in your lip, its 8mg/g, so 0.5g=4mg, 2g=16mg etc. though i do like having a nice flavourful lump in my lip.
Nicotine quantity/mg is really only part of the picture. Uptake and bio-availability is important, and it’s more dependent on the pH than the nicotine/mg. With snus, the ‘typical’ flavoring of citrus (acidic) works against it’s bio-availability (slightly basic). Or at least it means it ‘hits’ you more slowly. At least that’s my understanding of it. Feel free to correct me, if I’ve misstated it.
Oh, I forgot to add… Ettan is an amazingly awesome flavor.
Nicotine has been proven to help with reaction times, attention spans, staying focused, and ADD/ADHD, per a talk that an addiction counselor gave at the 2013 Chicago pipe show, and many people learn to self medicate with it. I know it definitely helps me stay focused.
Heh-heh. That was me, @barkingleopard. Glad you enjoyed the talk. :)>-
Ah yes, now I remember the name, @fredhanna ! Didn’t realize you were on this forum. Lovely talk, I really enjoyed it, very informative, and I still remember many of the main points. I’m not sure that I will be able to make it to this year’s show, as I haven’t been smoking my pipes as much and live a good 850 miles from Chicago now, though I suppose I really should, last year’s was a blast. Now that I think of it, I should probably try to make it again, only now I’ll have to figure out if it 's worth a long day of driving in each direction or if I can find flights cheap enough to make flying and renting a car worthwhile. While I spent way too much money on pipes and tobacco, last year’s show was a blast. I tried Sam Gawith Apricot snuff long ago and enjoyed it, but made my first significant snuff purchases at last year’s show, from a very dapper young man (I want to say he ran a tobacco shop in Missouri, and I remember being jealous of his hat) who bought his snuff wholesale from Mr. Snuff. Funny how I seem to switch between different preferred forms of recreational tobacco, from cigars to pipe tobacco to now snuff.
Nicotine has been proven to help with reaction times, attention spans, staying focused, and ADD/ADHD, per a talk that an addiction counselor gave at the 2013 Chicago pipe show, and many people learn to self medicate with it. I know it definitely helps me stay focused.
Heh-heh. That was me, @barkingleopard. Glad you enjoyed the talk. :)>-
Well, I’m certainly addicted to your Wilderness blend.
I tried Sam Gawith Apricot snuff long ago and enjoyed it, but made my first significant snuff purchases at last year’s show, from a very dapper young man (I want to say he ran a tobacco shop in Missouri, and I remember being jealous of his hat) who bought his snuff wholesale from Mr. Snuff.
@barkingleopard Sounds like another member of our forum @Mr. Nose I think the hat is in his profile pic. http://snuffhouse.org/profile/2183/Mr.%20Nose Unfortunately he can’t receive an @ notification unless I can alter his name here.
There is an excellent article in this month (March 2014) issue of Discover Magazine on the positive effects of snuff. Seems to take a very level headed approach and is written in a style that is easy to understand. The title is ‘The Nicotine Fix’ by Dan Hurley. The intro statement is This notorious stimulant may enhance learning and help treat Parkinsons, schizophrenia and other neurological diseases. Give it a look see…
There is an excellent article in this month (March 2014) issue of Discover Magazine on the positive effects of snuff. Seems to take a very level headed approach and is written in a style that is easy to understand. The title is ‘The Nicotine Fix’ by Dan Hurley. The intro statement is This notorious stimulant may enhance learning and help treat Parkinsons, schizophrenia and other neurological diseases. Give it a look see…
Thanks, that was interesting. I saw a copy laying around on the Internets. I extracted the article and put it up here. Hope I don’t get sued. EDIT: Here’s an another excerpt from the authors book: Will a Nicotine Patch Make You Smarter? [Excerpt] | Scientific American
Thanks, @stogie, had to subscribe to the mag to get to it though. But it is an interesting mag anyway, so I did. You work for them?
@Xander Yup, that would be him. Great guy to talk to and buy from. Nice to run into some of the gents I met at the Chicago show.
There is an excellent article in this month (March 2014) issue of Discover Magazine on the positive effects of snuff. Seems to take a very level headed approach and is written in a style that is easy to understand. The title is ‘The Nicotine Fix’ by Dan Hurley. The intro statement is This notorious stimulant may enhance learning and help treat Parkinsons, schizophrenia and other neurological diseases. Give it a look see…
Thanks, that was interesting. I saw a copy laying around on the Internets. I extracted the article and put it up here. Hope I don’t get sued. EDIT: Here’s an another excerpt from the authors book: Will a Nicotine Patch Make You Smarter? [Excerpt] | Scientific American
Very interesting article. I’ve read that one of the reasons “Big Pharma” has never bothered to research the potential helpful aspects of nicotine is that it cannot be patented.
mecompo said: “Very interesting article. I’ve read that one of the reasons “Big Pharma” has never bothered to research the potential helpful aspects of nicotine is that it cannot be patented.” Indeed, I wrote about there being no profit in nicotine for the big drug companies in my book (“The Perfect Smoke” now on Kindle) about pipe smoking. There is a chapter on nicotine in the book. I provide it for you below. But I must tell you that I have learned a lot more about nicotine since the book was written by continuing to study the research. The facts about nicotine are completely fascinating. And I think we are onto something that is appreciated by no one except we nic lovers and hard core researchers. Heh-heh… I love irony. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE BENEFITS OF NICOTINE: DRUG OF THE DEVIL OR GIFT OF THE GODS? This chapter is not about tobacco, and it is not about smoking. It is about a drug called nicotine. Almost certainly by now, anyone who lives in Euro- America has been exposed to the extremely negative messages sent by governments and health organizations condemning smoking. Curiously, almost nothing is said about nicotine itself, and this seems to result in a condition whereby nicotine is doomed to guilt by association with tobacco and smoking as complicit in causing cancer, heart disease, and an array of other maladies. According to a study that surveyed 1,139 smoking patients, approximately 70% of women and 60% of men believed that nicotine causes cancer. Such percentages may well be higher among nonsmokers. The truth is that nicotine does not cause cancer—not at all. That much is clear. Research scientists do not believe it causes cancer. In fact, what research scientists have come to believe about nicotine stands in stark and remarkable contrast to nicotine’s public image, which sometimes seems to be about as low as crack cocaine, crystal meth and angel dust. Actually, there are some amazingly positive effects of nicotine. These effects seem to be mostly unknown to the anti-tobacco people who despise it and to the smokers who are fond of it. The purpose of this essay is to expose nicotine for what it is, to remove it from the realm of vilification and demonization, and to make it actually appreciated as a drug with many potential and outright positive health benefits. I have been nothing short of amazed at some of the findings from nicotine research. Please allow me to tell you a story. A Chance Encounter and an Awakening Back in 2010, I was in a local smoke shop discussing pipes and tobaccos with the manager of the shop at that time, who remains a pipe enthusiast and hobbyist. He introduced to me to another customer, who was enjoying a cigar in one of the many leather chairs in the lounge area of the shop. He mentioned to us that we should talk, given that both of us were university professors. That chance meeting turned out to be nothing short of an awakening for me. Jim, a professor in the University of Colorado system, told me that his area of specialization was brain research in the area of addictive drugs and especially nicotine. I found this especially interesting in view of the fact that he was smoking, and obviously enjoying, a fine cigar. It seemed to me that I had finally found someone who could provide unbiased answers to some questions that I had been harboring for a long, long time. Jim graciously offered to entertain any questions I might have. One of the first questions I asked Jim was whether there was any truth to reports I had read that nicotine seemed to inhibit the development of Parkinson’s disease. Jim assured me that this was indeed correct. He gave the same answer when I asked him about research I had only heard about that indicated that nicotine might have a preventative effect against the development of Alzheimer’s disease. Jim not only agreed but added that nicotine is also being studied as a possible treatment for schizophrenia, although no conclusions, to his knowledge, had yet been reached. Frankly, I was very surprised to hear this from an accomplished researcher and well-published scholar. I then asked him why, if nicotine was so helpful a drug, especially with regard to Parkinson’s, had the general public not heard more about the positive aspects of nicotine and why it was not being prescribed as a medication. His answer opened my eyes, once again, to a hard reality in our society. Jim said that nicotine is not being prescribed as a medication primarily because there was no money to be made from it. He said that the way the major drug companies work is that they need to patent a drug before putting it on the market. A patent must first be established by the drug company so that it can then make an exclusive profit from whatever the particular drug may be. If there is no patent, then the millions of dollars they spend on manufacturing and marketing the drug will not get them a return on their money, and they end up losing money on the entire venture. Jim said that there can be no patent on nicotine just like there can be no patent on alcohol. No one owns these drugs as they are readily available in nature. Thus, nicotine itself was not likely to be prescribed as a medication. I then asked Jim to help me understand some reports I had read that indicated that there were attempts out there to produce a “derivative” of nicotine as a treatment for Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. He said that there were indeed efforts being conducted to produce such a derivative. When I asked him if such derivatives were different than nicotine itself, he said no, but that the derivatives were specifically designed to bind to one of nine receptors in the brain that interact with nicotine. He carefully and patiently explained to me that if a pharmaceutical company can develop a drug that binds itself to one receptor, the company can then patent the drug and make sizable profits from the sales. The receptors in the brain are called, curiously, nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). But so far, he added, all attempts at developing such derivatives have failed, but the research continues. Jim clearly stated to me that nicotine has the effect in the brain of being what he called a “neural protectant.” In other words, it has the effect of acting to protect the brain and inhibit it from degeneration. Then, with a slight smile and a flourish of his cigar, he said, “That is why I smoke three of these a week!” We then laughed together as I flourished my pipe to match his gesture. Naturally, the discussion turned toward the demonization of nicotine in the press and society in general, representing it as a terrible scourge of a drug. I asked if nicotine caused cancer. Jim calmly and confidently confirmed that there is no evidence that nicotine causes cancer. But he added that smoking, particularly cigarettes, does indeed seem to cause cancer. I asked him what it was about smoking cigarettes that causes cancer, and he said quite clearly that no one knows and that, if he knew the precise answer to that question, he would be a very rich man. I asked if it is the additives in cigarettes that cause cancer, or perhaps the heat from the smoke, or maybe it is the paper. Jim simply shook his head and repeated that no one knows the answers to those questions at this time. He remarked that smoking a pipe or a cigar in moderation appeared to be quite safe to him, but he was strongly against the use of cigarettes because of the strong cancer connection. That latter statement gave me pause for thought. It made me think of a few dear friends who had died from lung cancer. All were smokers. But I could not recall a single person I have ever known in all the pipe world who developed cancer of the mouth or the lungs. But that’s just my personal experience. The Research Is Out There After that fascinating conversation, Jim emailed me some articles from scientific journals that provided me with more information. Regrettably, I understood only a small part of those highly technical articles, as brain research is not my field. Nevertheless, I was able to find some interesting research on positive effects of nicotine that Jim did not mention. For example, in 2010 an important study of many studies of the effects of nicotine was published. A study of many studies, when done properly in a rigorous fashion, is called a meta-analysis. It is a highly valid and reliable statistical research tool used for summarizing research and sometimes for getting to the bottom of conflicting or unclear research results across an array of studies. The meta-analysis (see the reference below) showed that nicotine produces small but significant increases in short-term memory, working memory, the ability to focus and direct attention, fine motor control, and certain response times. The researchers concluded that nicotine is a performance enhancer and that it improves certain mental abilities. They also suggested, remarkably, that nicotine be considered as a treatment for people who suffer from certain mental performance impairments. Another article published in 1991 stated that nicotine may result in the enhancement of mental performance, positive reinforcement, and protection against Parkinson’s disease, Tourette’s syndrome, Alzheimer’s, and even sleep apnea. Still another study showed that cotinine, which is the chemical that nicotine becomes after it is broken down in the body, prevented the loss of memory in mice who displayed the mouse equivalent of Alzheimer’s. Other studies have shown that nicotine has positive benefits for schizophrenics. On an entirely different front, nicotine has the curious effect of enhancing the pleasure people derive from their surroundings and also was shown to lessen symptoms of depression in non-smokers. And just as Jim said, it seems that many researchers agree that nicotine and its close relative, cotinine, protect brain cells from stress and other negative influences. In addition, nicotine has the benefit of helping to reduce compulsive behaviors in some persons suffering from obsessive- compulsive disorder. As far back as 1994, researchers noted that nicotine decreased anxiety and increased tolerance of pain. Nicotine is also showing promise as a treatment for ADHD. Finally, it has been reported that cotinine (a drug with few harmful side effects, by the way) may help to protect the brain from dementia. Quite recently, in early 2012, a widely publicized study of nicotine was published in the journal, Neurology. Dr. Paul Newhouse, a researcher at the University of Vermont, conducted a study that provided evidence that nicotine can actually reverse mild memory loss for people advancing in years. This was not a study of Alzheimer’s disease but simple memory loss as a result of aging. In the study, 74 people with an average age of 76 were given a nicotine patch or a placebo as a treatment for poor memory functioning. Those who used the patch regained 46% of normal memory function in the six-month trial period. The placebo group decreased by 26% over the same period. Dr. Newhouse and his associates will be publishing more studies in this area so stay tuned. Conclusion There are many benefits to be had from the use of nicotine. Pipe smokers have long known that pipe smoking helps us to focus and contemplate. Sherlock Holmes told us that. But now science is catching up by showing us the advantages of nicotine. It is a simple prediction to make that sometime in the near future our doctors will be prescribing nicotine as we get older. This is not to downplay the fact that nicotine is an addictive drug. In fact, I want to make it clear that there is no intent or attempt here to minimize the fact that nicotine is indeed addictive. But many drugs used as medicines are addictive, from Valium and Xanax to Vicodin and Oxycontin. Nonetheless, in my experience, nicotine is much more highly addictive when it is delivered by cigarettes than by pipes, the reason for which I frankly and honestly do not understand. But as my friend Jim said and as I myself have experienced, when we smoke our pipes (and cigars) in moderation, there seems to be little to worry about in terms of any serious threats to health. Curiously enough, my former family physician at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore once told me the same thing when I told him I smoked a pipe. And, yes, nicotine is addictive, and extremely high doses of it are lethal. But then, vitamins A, C and D are also lethal in extremely high doses. Whatever risks there are seem to me to be far outweighed by the benefits of relaxation, stress reduction, problem solving and simple enjoyment of life. In the light of research, nicotine, contrary to its image as the drug of the devil, may in fact be a gift of the gods.
Nicotine has been proven to help with reaction times, attention spans, staying focused, and ADD/ADHD, per a talk that an addiction counselor gave at the 2013 Chicago pipe show, and many people learn to self medicate with it. I know it definitely helps me stay focused.
Heh-heh. That was me, @barkingleopard. Glad you enjoyed the talk. :)>-
Well, I’m certainly addicted to your Wilderness blend.
Thanks @Jari_T I am glad you like Wilderness! Meanwhile, I have bought a few of your pipe t-shirts and sweatshirts!
Ah yes, now I remember the name, @fredhanna ! Didn’t realize you were on this forum. Lovely talk, I really enjoyed it, very informative, and I still remember many of the main points. I’m not sure that I will be able to make it to this year’s show, as I haven’t been smoking my pipes as much and live a good 850 miles from Chicago now, though I suppose I really should, last year’s was a blast. Now that I think of it, I should probably try to make it again, only now I’ll have to figure out if it 's worth a long day of driving in each direction or if I can find flights cheap enough to make flying and renting a car worthwhile. While I spent way too much money on pipes and tobacco, last year’s show was a blast. I tried Sam Gawith Apricot snuff long ago and enjoyed it, but made my first significant snuff purchases at last year’s show, from a very dapper young man (I want to say he ran a tobacco shop in Missouri, and I remember being jealous of his hat) who bought his snuff wholesale from Mr. Snuff. Funny how I seem to switch between different preferred forms of recreational tobacco, from cigars to pipe tobacco to now snuff.
Hope to see you in Chicago this year @barkingleopard. If you can get there, by all means look me up!
All very interesting. Now, how to fool or avoid the health insurance tobacco use urine tests, which detect cotinine, for those of us who are clearly wiser than they, and can self medicate safely?
@fredhanna Will do. I’ll have to check my work schedule and budget, but I’m always up for an excuse for a road trip. Have tobacco, will travel.
All very interesting. Now, how to fool or avoid the health insurance tobacco use urine tests, which detect cotinine, for those of us who are clearly wiser than they, and can self medicate safely?
Hi @Xander. I do not know where you live but I can tell you that I have a Prudential Life Insurance policy here in the USA that does not charge me extra due to nicotine on the condition that I do not smoke cigarettes, but only pipes (or cigars). Their life insurance premiums are quite reasonable compared to those of the many other companies I compared them with. It appears that it is smoking cigarettes that they are mostly concerned with as opposed to other, more ignorant, insurance companies who charge exorbitant prices for smokers of any kind. . I don’t know if that helps in your case but there it is.
Yeah snuff is definitely a lot more stimulating than other forms of tobacco use and I’ve experienced some of that stuff (though not the muscles) when I was starting and with particularly strong snuffs. Even now after a pinch I feel like I become more animated for a few minutes. If I take a pinch during a good conversation I’ll often have some small rush of ideas for 30-60 seconds. I think as your tolerance goes up it becomes a lot more fleeting, unfortunately. The hardcore African snuffs (NTSU etc.) with large pinches make me feel like my heart is beating uncomfortably fast and I have to get up and pace around and experience some anxiety (yeah I guess I’m a wimp). If it’s uncomfortable just take smaller pinches really, snuff is so easy to titrate.
Well said, @horus92. I have had much the same experience as you, although not with the rapid heart beat nor with anxiety effects, although I can understand how that would happen. Curious how nicotine effects from snuff are so different from nicotine effects from other sources such as cigarettes, cigars, or pipes. The snuff effect is much more clean, cerebral, and direct, it seems to me.
The snuff effect is much more clean, cerebral, and direct, it seems to me.
I agree. It probably helps that you don’t get a load of carbon monoxide reducing the availability of oxygen in the brain.
@fredhanna Interesting, good to know. I wish my company’s healthcare plan were like that. I currently pay a good 25% more because they define “non-smoker” as a person who has not used ANY form of nicotine in the past 12 months. Apparently by their logic snuff and the 2 or 3 pipes and/or cigars I smoke a week make me just as unhealthy as a 4-pack-a-day cig smoker. The fun part is that from what I’ve heard cigarette smokers actually have much lover LIFETIME healthcare costs simply because they die so much sooner, whereas those who don’t smoke cigarettes tend to live much longer and suffer from more expensive, longer-lasting chronic ailments.