Share your Snus Story.

[Bigblue1]

Didn't think it would be too long for you to show up here. Welcome aboard chris, Glad I could be the spark plug for your snus re-entry....

[Bigblue1]

Didn't think it would be too long for you to show up here. Welcome aboard chris, Glad I could be the spark plug for your snus re-entry.... I'm sure the GF loves me.. :twisted:

[MojoQuestor]

K, I'm really tired, but it doesn't appear that I've posted my thrilling story here.

I didn't smoke, drink, or do anything harder than Dungeons & Dragons until I was out of high school. I started smoking cigarettes when I was about 19, which would have been 1985. It wasn't peer pressure; none of my friends smoked. It was a rejection of everything I had been, with a ton of self-loathing mixed in. After a period of experimenting, I wound up smoking about two packs of Marlboro a day.

I tried to quit a few times, but my first serious attempt was July 1, 2007. I saw a picture on the BBC about the upcoming smoking ban in London/England/Britain/wherever it was, and I thought, "that's it. It's time for me to quit." I bought some Equate (Wal-Mart) 4mg nicotine gum, and tried it a few days before the quit date. I actually liked it. I never did find another gum I liked as well. (If you ever see "Rugby" gum, that's made by the same company.)

I managed to quit, for nearly four months. Then after one crappy day in late October, I was sitting at home and spied the "art pack" of Camels I had sitting near me, gathering dust. (These were fancy packs designed by artists. I figured I would save it and sell it on eBay one day, or something stupid like that. Yes, I save all my snus cans, too.) I think I was drinking. I know by the end of the night I was. I'd gone through the nasty, stale Camels, then made a trip to Krispy Kreme, McDonald's, and Circle K for a pack of Marlboros. I fell off the wagon with a thud.

But the next day I got up, chewed the gum, and kept trying. I did have a few cigarettes that evening, though. This became a new pattern: get up, go to work, come home chewing the gum, then have a few smokes in the evening.

Finally, about a week into December, I just decided I would quit again for New Year's. So I wound up smoking about a pack a day, in the evening, and when the new year came, I quit. Again.

This lasted for almost three months, until March 27th of 2008. Once again I crumbled, and went for a pack of Marlboro. Only this time, they tasted like crap. I don't know if they changed the formulation (maybe that fire-safe paper I read about later), or if it was a change in me, but I couldn't stand them anymore.

Logically, then, I should have just quit. Instead, for some reason, I thought "I'll go buy a pack of Bugler."

I'd smoked it before, a little, many years ago, but this time I liked it. It was much better than the Marlboros. It wasn't long before I was trying all kinds of tobacco, discovering which ones I liked, and also discovering that some of the best tobacco I couldn't get anymore, thanks, I believe, to the MSA, and also the general tax & business climate in the US.

So I rolled my own for about a year, and then SCHIP got passed, and the taxes went sky-high. A 300g can of tobacco that used to cost 19 bucks plus change went up to over $40. Naturally I had just settled on a brand. This was it; time to quit.

But I caved yet again, and bought three more cans, enough to get free shipping. I couldn't believe I was spending over $130 on tobacco (when I think of what I've spent on snus in just the last three months, I have to laugh. But that's out of choice, and, darn it, love).

I was still waiting for my tobacco to arrive when I discovered snus. Actually, that's not quite right, because I'd read about it on the Internet. Somehow I'd stumbled across it, and read about it on Wikipedia, and I'm pretty sure I'd already read some here, just skimming the cream off Google. But there was a particular day when I walked around the block to the neighborhood cigarette store. There on the glass door was a sign for Camel Snus. I knew right away, somehow, what it was, and what it wasn't. It was snus, hell yeah, but it was going to be way too sweet, and not very strong, and basically a crap version of the real thiing. Don't ask me how I knew that, but I did. I bought some anyway.

Soon I had three monkeys on my back: cigs, gum, and "snus". (Yeah, I never stopped with the gum. I'd use it when I couldn't smoke. I wound up chewing the gum over two years.) I liked the snus well enough to keep buying it, I used it for gigs and began chewing the gum less, but it wasn't enough to stop me from smoking--just like RJR intended, no doubt.

To finally sum up already, early last August I got up the nerve to order some snus. I ordered General (1 loose, 1 op, 1 white) from Iwan Ries, since it was in the states and I guess I had Getsnus confused with the Swedish outfits. Then, not sure I was going to like the General, I got even braver and ordered the same three varieties of Ettan from Buysnus.

My General arrived from Chicago on the 11th of August. And so it is that today is my three-month anniversary with snus--real snus, Swedish snus. That other stuff? I'm glad it's brought people into the real thing. I hope it does more good than harm that way. I'd like to think I would have eventually tried real snus anyway.

Oh, yeah, I guess there is a little more to the story (sorry). Almost immediately, my smoking went down--way down. I never really counted them once I started handrolling, but I suppose I was the same two-pack-a-day guy I always was, as far as nic need and habit. By the end of August, I was smoking two, three cigarettes a day--sometimes none. Gigs became much more fun; no more jonesing for a smoke and spending my whole break outside or whatever. Everything became more fun, really. I haven't had to pause while writing this (and aren't you happy about that?) except one time, to put a Level portion in my mouth. (Mmm, good.)

As for the gum: Who needs it now? I still have 10 or 12 pieces around here somewhere.

September went much like the end of August, only with more and more smokeless days. In October, as best as I can recall, I smoked exactly one-half a cigarette. This month? None so far. I think I'm quit, although I've got over 600g of very fine cigarette tobacco for which I guess I should find a use. I dunno, maybe I'll start a bonfire.

[cstokes4]

@BigBlue1:

LOL, she doesn't care as long as I don't dip. She hated the dip, even though she never complained. I explained the reduced risk with Snus, as with Snuff, and she was okay with it.

[deadohsky]

I gave a short version of my snus story in my introduction post, but i figured i might as well give a little more detail.

I started smoking when i was 16, roughly seven years. The first four years, i hadn't even thought of quitting, just never crossed my mind. As i started my 20's, my father died from cancer (not smoking related mind you) this gave me a reality check since my mother died when i was 12, also from cancer. I remember a doctor telling me when my father was diagnosed (before i was 20) that after i hit 20, if i continued to smoke, my risk for cancer jumped to 70 percent (i have no idea where he got those numbers from) but it got me thinking; even though both of my parents caners were not from smoking, just the fact that they both had cancer, should i really be smoking and pretty much guarantee that i get cancer at some point in my life?

My first true attempt to quit smoking was after i turned 21, lasted about two weeks, and then i started smoking again, can't remember why. When i turned 22, i tried to quit again, on the day of my second week being smoke free, i got into a car accident and got screwed on it horribly, and went and bought a pack right after. After that i continued to smoke until this summer when i quit for a week that i was spending with my girlfriend. The week went fine without cigarettes, a little irritable at some points. Once she went back east, i lasted about four days, got really pissed at work, and started up again.

A couple months ago, i started to get really tired of smoking; constantly having a cough, stuffed up nose, myself, house, and car constantly reeking of smoke, getting sick more frequently and staying sick longer, etc. Around that time, i started seeing (or at least paying more attention to them) advertisements for Camel SNUS at gas stations and gave it a try, couldn't really tell if i was getting any nicotine from it, didn't decrease my urge for a cigarette much at all. I started doing some searches online to find out more about Camel SNUS and snus in general to see what exactly it was. One of my first stops was, surprisingly enough, Wikipedia. I was really interested after reading the article on Swedish snus. Shortly after, i came across this forum and started reading a ton of the posts just trying to get a feel for it. It was actually this forum, before i was actually a member, that inspired me to place my first order for genuine Swedish snus. Boy am i glad i found this place and placed that order.

Since trying real snus, there was a huge difference than the "snus" widely marketed in America/my area. My first can was General White Portion. The smell threw me for a loop at first, not too much though since a minute after the initial smell, i threw a portion in my lip. It's been love ever since. It has greatly reduced my urge for cigarettes. I am very confident that with snus i will finally be able to kick my smoking habit.

[pweiaholic]

I suppose this would be a good place for an introduction.

I've smoked for about 18 years, at times coming close to 2 packs a day. Started in on the snus around april of this year. The typical Camel SNUS intro followed up by the internet research, which lead me to SnusCentral. I found some General at a local tobacco shop, tried it, hated it, and threw it away. Waited a week and tried again. That time worked out much better. I wasn't looking to quit smoking and I am going with I haven't actually quit, but I buy maybe a pack a month now. I was mainly seeing if it would be a way to save money. And it is.

I have sampled just about every snus I'd really care to and am now going back and giving a second chance to some of the ones I didn't care for when I first started out because I have noticed a huge change in my palate. My current workhorse snus is General Wintergreen followed by General White and Regular.

I'm also about 2 weeks into trying out nasal snuff. I absolutely love it! But I am the messiest snuffer ever. I have no control and sneeze all the time, get watery eyes, blow snuff all over my face, and generally make a fool of myself with it... but I am in love with the aromas. My current fav is Wilsons Royal George followed by Toque Whisky and Honey.

[sagedil]

And let me be the first (as usual) to say welcome to Snuson.

Glad you finally made your way over to us. We are better than Snuscentral :wink:

A bunch of snuff users here, the "other tobacco" section is new for us, just so many folks posting about snuff it made sense. Toque Whiskey and Honey was my first ever snuff, and still my favorite 9 months later

[TheOneandOnly]

Was a smoker for 8 years or so... Was intrigued by the Camel Snus at 7-11's and gas station.. Researched Snus and found out it was much healthier. Started using Camel snus and found out it was much easier to kick the smoking habit by using the camel snus. But still needed a cigarette every so often and didnt want to go back to buying smokes since I was saving a lot of money using snus. Found out about Northerner.com and ordered 4 cans to try. Now, 10 months later, im here.

[Jlt012]

I am only 20, and I was a very occasional smoker.. The most i smoked consistently was about a pack every three days for about 4 months.. Although for about 2 years i would switch between dip and cigs off and on. As a kid a grew up with tobacco, my uncle gave me my first cigar when i was 6 years old.. kinda crazy but true. Last year I had a buddy that pulled out some camel snus.. i was curious, as i would always see the signs at the gas stations. I decided to grab a can, and i actually enjoyed it. I used camel for about a month, then found swedish snus online. I ordered myself some knox los and loved it. Then i found snuson to share my love for snus

[WickedKitchen]

Hello. Name's Ed.

I got on this stuff a few years ago after hearing about it on a radio program. They weren't promoting it other than talking about the overall harm reduction but I heard it mentioned on two very different shows randomly (it appears) within a short period of time. I was then dipping Grizzly Straight for three years or so. Before that I was a pack a day camel lights smoker for 15 years or so.

Now it's a few snus a day and some pinches of snuff. That get's me through.

[olderthandirt]

Was lookin' for an introduction thread, 'spose this comes as close as I've found.

Wanted to quit smoking, tax hikes at the first of the year finally gave me the push I needed. Funny, I still remember swearing I'd quit when smokes went from $0.25 to $0.35!

Anywho, I started vaping this past February. After about 7 days I had pretty much stopped smoking. For the next 7 months I would have 1 or 2 smokes a week. some weeks none at all.

Started using snus 1 1/2 months ago, not a single smoke since.

In that time I've managed to try quite a few brands, sooo very many left to sample!

My current all day snus is either General Original or Wintergreen or Ettan Original.
I like to start the day with Mocca Machiato or Pomegranate.
N&J Black is a great pick-me-up and the Probe whiskey settles the evening nicely.

[deeanne59]

Hey there OTD! How are you? Welcome to SnusOn! N&J Black is a great snus to me as well.

[olderthandirt]

Doin' well deeanne, thank you!

[deeanne59]

Haven't had a chance to talk to you in a while...don't get around to ECF much anymore. Have you tried snuff yet?

[olderthandirt]

Actually been playing with that as well deeanne.

To date I've only tried 2; Toques Chocolate and Whiskey/Honey. The chocolate, eh, not fail so much but, eh. The Whiskey/Honey is nice. I've a selection ready to go in a my cart at Mars Cigar and Pipe.

Are you still vaping?