Why is it so...

[sagedil]

Re: Smoker and snuser

Why both tobacco products. And why not desire to quit when you know the bad and dangerous effects it has on you? Whether you smoke 1, 10 or 20 a day it still can give you cancer and most likely will. There is no question about that.

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That is simply not true Jonathon. Even heavy smokers have at best only a 50/50 shot of dieing from something that is related to smoking. And it absolutely IS dose dependent. Someone who smokes one cigarette a day has at best 1/20th of a chance of getting sick as someone who smokes 2 -3 packs a day. The more you smoke, the more risks you are taking.

I will continue to enjoy a cigarette when the mood hits me, I love all tobacco now and indulge in whatever makes me happy at that moment.

What I am most grateful for with snus is it freed me from the *need* to smoke cigarettes. That is a huge issue with me. Now I use what I want, never because I need to anymore

As I mentioned earlier, I never had a desire to quit cigarettes. That was really a happy accident. I started using snus to cover a 4 hour period while I worked. But over 4 months or so, I just started using snus more and more, smoked less and less, and the money I was saving more than anything else convinced me to stop buying cigarettes. That and I became addicted the the much better nicotine delivery mechanism of snus over cigarettes.

But every once in a while, I just want that feeling of tobacco smoke in my lungs. Will always obsessionally smoke.

[Karanya]

Re: Smoker and snuser

Why both tobacco products. And why not desire to quit when you know the bad and dangerous effects it has on you? Whether you smoke 1, 10 or 20 a day it still can give you cancer and most likely will. There is no question about that.

Why not move to full time snusin... Just curious since I rarely hear some one say they have no desire to quit smoking. I think most people want to but are either to lazy or just don't have the will power to do it. Snus allows for people to get the nic and not have all the crazy side effects of quitting smoking cold turkey.

Get ready to go WTF.

I have been an unrepentant, joyful smoker for a little over 10 years. Never once have I wished to quit smoking, and in fact, the decision to begin smoking (or, more accurately, the decision to begin using nicotine) was one of the few I've made that I have never doubted.

:shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

I don't smoke much anymore. Currently, I'm smoking much more than I did a few weeks ago (right now, a few cigarettes a day) and much less than I did six months ago (two to four packs a day back then and for the previous ten years).

Snus and snuff are more enjoyable overall and much, much less expensive than smoking full time, so I do a lot more of that than I do smoking. But I still like a cigarette occasionally, and when I do, I smoke one without hesitation. Making the switch (first to mostly e-cigs, then mostly snus, then mostly snus and snuff) was never about health for me. Yes, I imagine that had I continued to smoke at the rate I had, it would have eventually led to health problems. But you should also keep in mind, since you brought up the big C, that those cancers associated with smoking are really quite rare. COPD or heart disease are much more likely ramifications of smoking...

Unlike most people, I did not wander unknowingly into nicotine dependence. It was something I thought long and hard about before finally making the decision to begin smoking regularly, which I did in my 20s. Prior to that, I had been smoking less than one cigarette a month (sometimes none for a year or more) since I was 16 or 17. The fact is, I enjoy the act of smoking, and even more importantly, nicotine (along with the other tobacco alkaloids) make it easier for me to focus and concentrate... and drastically improve my mood. I can tell you exactly when I became a fully functional member of society and the cheerful, kind person I am now (rather than the brooding, moody Queen of Antisocial). It was the day I started smoking fulltime.

Self-medicating? Maybe. Nothing else I tried worked (pharmaceuticals, etc.) and I'm just far too much of a hedonist to have gone the self-help or counseling route.

Anyway, regarding why someone would use multiple tobacco products... each fills a different niche for me. Snus is my "baseline" nicotine. Even the OMFGSTARK ones, like Oden's ES and Thunder, don't cause nicotine blood levels to peak as high as chain-smoking. I generally use snuff as my "booster" to get those peaks. However, my nose kinda sucks and I while I can consume a cigarette every five minutes endlessly, I can't snuff that frequently without irritating the hell out of my nose.

Many things we choose to do are bad for our health. The most striking example of this is driving (or riding as a passenger in) a car. I'm sure everyone here knows that car accidents a major, major cause of injury and premature death. Yet nearly everyone continues to drive/ride and very, very few people reduce their yearly mileage to reduce its health effects. Why? Because the benefit is mobility is greater than the benefit of reduced risks, for most.

Or so I hope, having thought through and periodically revisited the risk vs. reward of my lifestyle. My husband tells me people aren't as rational as I think, but I think he's just speaking for himself

I do not drive. I do ride as a passenger in a car for an average of about 50 or 60 miles per month.

It does make me want to rip my hair out when I read of people who don't want to smoke and yet continue to do it. Not because I think they should just set the smokes down and walk away, but because it is clear that smoking offers them some benefit greater than quitting and I hate it when people don't own their decisions. I don't believe in being conflicted Did I mention I'm weird?

--K

[sagedil]

Karanya, do you have ADHD????

I have posted many times over the years that is THE reason I use nicotine. After the grand tobacco settlement 10 years ago, scientists finally felt comfortable studying nicotine, and one of the first studies was a study that showed nicotine to be as affective as Ritalin in treating ADHD, has been confirmed in many other studies since then. Just do a Google search on ADHD and Nicotine, and you will find all of them.

I had to quit snus a couple of years ago for a few months, and it was amazing how badly that hurt me. Without nicotine, I can barely function.

So count me with you, I absolutely consciously use nicotine for medicinal reasons. Am just grateful to have found snus to carry most of my needs.

BTW, pot has now also been shown to be affective. The NY Times did an article about it a few weeks ago. Still early and a bit controversial, especiually the idea of giving teenagers access to medical marijuana. But better explains why I have been so effective since I made that a part of my dauly life nearly 20 years ago

[lofat]

Re: Why is it so...

Something has been on my mind and I have been wondering about for a while now, so I thought I would address a couple things and see what others thought about this.

Why is it that many of us use multiple brands and flavors of snus and rotate through out the day. When I was a smoker and people who still smoke don't do that with Cigarettes? Why no brand and flavor loyalty like with other tobacco products. People who dip stick to one mainly and smokers too.

I think a lot of folks approach snus more like a wine or a fine spirit... even ex smokers or dippers. variety and experience. Personally I have a brand, but I still mix it up some. I am the same with my bourbons and scotches. I have one brand that is really my favorite, but I like to savor all the flavors and subtleties the product category has to offer. Domestic dip and cigs lack subtleties entirely IMO and as a result people find one that has a flavor or image they like or identify with and stick with it. Which brings marketing into it. Cigarette and dips are for many an extension of their personalities.

[WickedKitchen]

I thought the same thing as the author of this thread for a long time.

I tried TONS of snus and found many many that i liked but settled on Grov White portions and used them exclusively for a long time. It was THE snus for me and I found myself comparing all other snus to it only to find they fell short of what I was looking for (then grov black came out and I got into sterks again)

When I found snuff last summer I traded everything I had been holding onto for whatever reason but snuff has opened my eyes to snus again and now I'm back to rotating 20 or more and loving every minute of it.

@ Karanya - I've been driving an average of about 210 miles each DAY for the past seven years for work. Always different roads and I've often thought of the risks too. Check out http://www.purewatergazette.net/oddsofdying.htm or related sites for some fun reading. I've learned that in the Northeast NY drivers are probably the best, RI being the worst and MA coming in a close second (they call us Massholes for a reason). People do STUPID things on the road ALL THE TIME. Don't get me on a rant about that malarky.

[timoteo]

id say most cigarettes taste generaly the same, unlike snus. different snuses can be extreamly different in many ways.
since ive narrowed my top ten down to a more prefered top 3-5 list ive been just keeping 1 can of portions open at atime and one loose in the fridge.
this way none of my stock is going bad, and im not pitching any.

[tom502]

I still haven't tried all there is, but I have tried alot, and I do have my faves. Once I use up my stock, I'm only gonna keep 10 cans or so in stock at a time. I don't like having my snus sit for months and months on end, and not being able to buy anything.

[sgreger1]

It's because smoking is nasty in the first place and most people end up just smoking because they have to (addiction). Snus is more of a wine testing type thing, you like to play the field. Switching flavors is part of the experience.

It's apples and oranges.