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General
Started by Anonymous at 11-13-2007 12:32 PM. Topic has 20 replies.
  
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 11-13-2007, 12:32 PM
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Anonymous
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Re: tell us your harm reduction stories
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I started smoking by smoking cigars when I was younger. The reason being that cigarettes weren't really the "in" thing, only women smoked them where I came from, and at the time cigars were cheaper. Then, naturally, I moved on to chew (Copenhagen, Skoal) knowing that cigars weren't the healthiest thing to do. I chewed on and off an never felt particularly good about it until I went to college. I wasn't able to afford chew, considering a tin of it only lasts two to two and a half days for a moderate user, and moved on to cigarettes. A pack of cigarettes always lasted me 5 days to a week. (Funny how they overtax chew and make it vastly more expensive than cigarettes.) So I kept smoking for a few years until I discovered European (nasal) snuff. A five gram tin costs around 6 bucks in Canada and lasts like a month, even if you do alot of it. Cost was the main factor here, but I don't think there's any evidence showing health risks regarding the stuff.
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12-15-2007, 2:28 AM
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Anonymous
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Re: tell us your harm reduction stories
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Here is my story...
I've been a competitive athelete most of my life but got tired of
competing right before I went to college. This is when I started
smoking. It lasted about 3 years and then I slowly started to
switch to ST. I assumed ST was about as harmful as smoking when I
started using it, and so I still felt guilty about using it (thanks to
my childhood dentist's wall pictures). However, it served as a
great stimulant for late nights in the engineering lab and was an
enjoyable activity while working hard manual labor jobs during the
summer.
After college, I started to try and quit becuase I was concerned for my
health and felt guilty when doing it around other people. Usually
I'd do a month on, month off. Once I quit for about 6
months. But, I always came back to it because I enjoyed it and
rationalized that in "moderation" it was probably okay. I even
tried smoking occasionally in moderation, but it just didn't sit well
with me anymore (cough!). Finally, I just decided to research
it. After all, I'd just finished 5 years of engineering
classes. How hard could it be?
First I did general searches on the internet and found hundreds of
health sites (mediated by M.D.s) that basically repeated like broken
record "ST is just as harmful as smoking". Of course there were
usually no sources cited and they always added it's "medically
proven". As an engineer that had taken a lot of science classes,
this didn't satisfy me. After a while I started digging into
medical reports and journals and found a good deal of information about
swedish snus. These studies were very convincing due to the fact
that the statistics involved a large number of Swedes over many
years. I started buying swedish snus and used it quite
regularly. I didn't feel guilty about it anymore, but I couldn't
convince more than a couple people around me that it was indeed
drastically safer than smoking. As far as they were concerned,
science had already settled this issue (too many dentist pictures?).
After finding that American brands are using safer manufacturering
processes, I decided to simply buy American. My ST quota is now 1
can a month. I decided that I don't like the idea of being
addicted to the point of desiring ST every day. Now I use Timber
Wolf Natural (fine cut), simply because it's a Pinkerton brand, which
is operated by Swedish Match. I always thought Kodiak and
Copenhagen might be more harmful, but that's just my intuition, not
science. My current girlfriend doesn't mind my habit, but almost
everyone else thinks it's gross and definitely causes oral cancer (I
think chewing salad looks worse).
Anyhow, this website has been a very good resource for me. My
whole personal ST research project has given me new insight into social
norms, public health, and American politics. It made me start
questioning other areas of possible mass public misleadings (i.e.
global warming). But, I'll end this message here.
Thanks for pointing toward the science,
Erik Anderson
"It is error only, and not truth, that shrinks from inquiry." - Thomas Paine
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02-02-2008, 1:25 PM
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Anonymous
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Re: tell us your harm reduction stories
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I have been smoking LESS over the last month, maybe half a pack less. I don't feel "ready" yet. I started with loose snuff, which irritated my teeth: but I find pouched snuff causes much less irritation. The nicotine in dip tobacco is infinitely more satisying than the pharmacuetical products, which I cannot even "feel".
What I would really like is for the smokeless makers to increase the availability of DRY snuff-as I would prefer that no one knew about my habit. I can find it online but the price of shipping is equal to about two cans of snuff. I have seen skoal dry and camel snus online but never in a store. With the recent smoking bans, I have no idea why skoal or copenhagen hasn't pushed DRY snuff--that would make things much easier on me. Call me old-fashioned, but I don't much care for spittin' dip in front of my wife.
I appreciate this site--very helpful and informative.
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02-05-2008, 10:31 AM
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admin
Joined on 12-06-2005
Posts 114
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Re: tell us your harm reduction stories
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There appears to be a general American market move over to moist snuff which is similar to Swedish snus. And though switching to any smokeless tobacco from cigarettes is a positive step, and though the differences among the smokeless types is not that great, from a health standpoint, either snus or moist snuff is most likely a little better. Both of these are available in satchels and neither require spitting so they should meet your requirements. I would see if your local retailers have these, and try them and see if they work for you.
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Report
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03-14-2008, 4:34 AM
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Anonymous
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Re: tell us your harm reduction stories
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I am twenty-one years old, and started smoking regularly when I was thirteen. By the time I was eighteen, I got this terrible cough that I could not shake unless I smoked. I realized that the cough was most likely due to smoking and by smoking more I wasn't really alleviating the cough - just making it worse. A few months ago, I got acute bronchitis for the third time in a year and I was coughing so hard that I would nearly vomit. I decided that it was time to quit, but having tried Nicorette gum and the patch in my teens I realized that I needed much more nicotine than those products gave.
A month ago, I decided that I would rather risk tooth loss and oral cancer than anymore of those awful coughing spells and decided to switch to moist snuff. The day that I started using moist snuff my cigarette consumption dropped enormously. I was a pack and a half a day smoker the week before, and I suddenly needed only seven or eight cigarettes. The more comfortable I became with using smokeless tobacco, the less cigarettes I desired. I still do smoke, but only when I immediately wake up and right before I sleep - for some reason I can't shake that (I think it is more psychological than anything).
I switched even though at the time I believed that the risks of using ST were very high - that I would get oral cancer in five to six years, etc. The more I learned about ST, however, the more I realized that I made the best choice I could.
Hopefully some day I can kick my tobacco habit completely - I find dipping very disgusting - but for now I am glad that my sense of smell is coming back, and I don't have those knee-buckling coughs as frequently.
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01-07-2009, 8:30 AM
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Anonymous
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Re: tell us your harm reduction stories
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I smoked for 15 years, i tried to quit on and off and at one time made it for 6 months, now i am a year free of cigarettes, and it is much much easier with ST. I dont even think about cigarettes at all anymore, and i am much much healthier. I have been able to go to the gym again and i can run, it has helped my health drastically. It's really sad how misinformed people are. I had high blood pressure, which is now gone, and so many health benefits from switching. Please if you read this trust what people are saying here.
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