Nicotine Math.

[Judge Faust]

Hello, everyone.

As an ex-smoker, current snuser, I decided to figure out how the nicotine content of snus stacks up to that of cigarettes...

And so far, I am baffled. According to Buysnus, some of the stronger snus are 12-16 mg of nicotine per pouch:

http://www.buysnus.com/Search.aspx?Cat=2&Sub=2&Type=3

Now, I used to smoke American Spirit Periques - one of the strongest (filters) on the market. According to their website, the nicotine content is 1.7 mg per cigarette:

http://www.nascigs.com/Our-Products/...a=blue_details (the direct link does not work; play with the "product selector" to view the details)

Can this be right? Does a strong snus have over 10 times the nicotine content of a very strong cigarette? Seems to me that, at 10 or so pouches per day, this would be more than enough to kill a medium-sized bovine...

Any thoughts? Is there a glaring mistake here somewhere, or am I basically doing the equivalent of a carton of smokes per day?

[sagedil]

First, welcome to Snuson Judge Faust, you have come to the right place.

Go here for some of the science behind how snus works, and how much nicotine is actually absorbed. This is from Swedish Match's site.

http://www.swedishmatch.com/en/Snus-...cotine-uptake/

The basic upshot is not nearly as much nicotine is actually absorbed by the body, So no, NOT the equivalent of a carton a day. :wink:

Again, welcome to the world of snus!!

[Xobeloot]

I am a firm believer that you DO get more nicotine from snus than you do from cigarettes.

I make my case by saying that when I was a smoker, I burned roughly 1.5 packs a day average. After using snus regularly for over a year now I find that If I get a wild hair up my ass and buy some smokes, I can chain an entire pack (sober) and not satiate my craving until I pack up a snus.

Now This it partially based on my tolerance of nicotine from using quite a bit of lossnus in a day, but I also think that it is heavily based on the nicotine delivery of snus. With smokes, you get a fast rush of nicotine that fades fast leaving you needing more. With snus, it comes on smooth and stays smooth even on the down-turn.

I sometimes go a good while without having a snus in (or puffing my e-cig) due to the fact that nicotine continues to be absorbed into the blood even after you spit out a pris. With smoking, as soon as you stop smoking, it is an instant downward spiral leading to your next puff.

Now I am no scientist, and there is not back-up info to any of my claims in this post, just the way one makes me feel vs the other. Take this with a grain of salt if it does not apply to you.

Welcome to Snuson Judge! Hope ya stay a while

[Judge Faust]

Thanks, sagedil! Excellent article - now it all makes sense!

And you seem to be spot-on about the nicotine absorption, Xobeloot. From the article:

"After the fast increase in blood nicotine concentration during smoking, the nicotine is eliminated quite rapidly after having finished the cigarette. During snus use, however, the nicotine concentration plateaus after the pinch has been taken out. The prolonged elimination of nicotine in snus users has been attributed to continued absorption of nicotine released from the mucous membrane or to absorption of nicotine that has been swallowed (Benowitz et al., 1989)."

Anyway, I'm very glad to have discovered snus - and this forum.