Harm Reduction vs. Elimination
I'm going on week three of being completely smoke free, after smoking for the previous 8 years. I've tried to quit over a dozen times and I've never been successful. I've used it all -- nicotine patches, gum, and even perscription drugs like Zyban. Say what you will about this, but I've been using Snus (sounds like noose) to get off cigarettes. I can breathe again.
"Gross, you're dipping?"
Not quite. It's a Swedish product that's cured differently than normal American dip. It tastes good and in an unscientific study, kissing me is about the same as a non-smoker. It's also cheaper. A pack of 15 Snus packets costs about $3.50 and lasts about two days. Camel makes two flavors: Mellow and Mint. I prefer the Mellow. Swedish brands come in a bunch of different flavors.
From an interesting NY Times op-ed:
"Eliminate the smoke, and you significantly reduce the risk. Indeed, Dr. Rodu found that a 35-year-old snus user will live on average as long as a 35-year-old who quits nicotine altogether - eight years longer than a smoker. Snus, or snuff, is especially attractive to smokers - who crave nicotine - because it produces nicotine levels comparable to smoking. [...]
The health benefits are impressive. Forty percent of Swedish men use tobacco products, and that is also the rate for men in the other 14 countries in the European Union. Yet Sweden has the lowest rate of lung cancer by far. Why? Largely because of snus, which represents half of all the tobacco that Swedish men use. (The other half smoke.)"
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