Follow-Up: Lazy, Embarrassing Article by StarTribune.com

After I published my article, How can the American Public be Educated about Snus when the American Press is so Lazy?  on that embarrassment to Journalism by StarTribune.com on snus, Danger follows a camel on a small tin box.  and especially after browsing through the reader comments, I decided to leave a comment of my own.

I registered on the site and entered Comment #36. Unfortunately, either their server was overwhelmed by my brilliant commentary or they just have a lousy site. In either event, the comment wouldn’t take. If anyone from StarTribune.com stumbles across this humble post, please feel free to reprint the following as Comment #36 under the above article. You have my full permission!

Would the Author Mind if just for fun, I interjected a little TRUTH here?

I am stunned by the complete disregard for accuracy or research done in writing this article. Let me help you out a little.

You say “This follows its recent introduction of Snus (rhymes with goose and should be banned solely for its name), a neat little tin filled with dissolvable tobacco packets to be placed under the tongue.”
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The FACT is Snus was developed by the Swedes over 200 years ago. “Snus” is the Swedish word for “Snuff”. Guess you’re a couple hundred years too late on banning the name.
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Portion Swedish Snus is a pouch filled with snus. It goes under the upper lip, and most importantly, it does NOT dissolve. It is spit-less and discreet. Twenty and Thirty year studies have proven that Swedish Snus does not cause Oral Cancer…the Swedish version of our FDA recently removed the requirement for a warning label indicating it can cause mouth cancer. Swedish snus is also PROVEN to be 98% safer than cigarettes.

You also state cigarettes have 60 carcinogens. You’re a little off: when a cigarette is lit, it contains 3000 to 4000 carcinogens!

Let me clarify I am talking about Swedish Snus; NOT Camel SNUS. American products currently calling themselves snus are completely unregulated. The Swedish Government has regulated snus as a Food Product since 1970.

Swedish snus is not designed for children. It is designed for people like me; a 35 year, 2 pack a day cigarette smoker (Camel cigarettes, ironically) who, within a week, was able to transition completely from cigarettes to Swedish Snus. I’ve never had another cigarette since and most telling, never desired another cigarette since. That was two years ago.

That’s because Swedish Snus has nicotine. It also lasts 2 to 5 times longer than Camel SNUS so that you get to absorb all the nicotine. I am nicotine addicted. Nicotine is more addicting than heroin. Cigarette companies and American Snus manufacturers also add sugar so the user gets a glucose high as well. That why so many smokers gain weight when they try to quit: their metabolism has become accustom to the sugar bursts.

Pay attention here, please:  Swedish/Scandinavian Snus is the absolute safest tobacco product on the planet bar none.  That doesn’t mean non-tobacco users should take it up.  It certainly doesn’t mean children should use it…..or alcohol….or illegal drugs.

It does mean that current smokers who can’t or don’t want to give up tobacco and nicotine can switch from cigarettes to Swedish Snus and eliminate 98% of the risk.  To eliminate 100% of the risk, they would also not only have to stop using all tobacco products, but stop eating hot dogs and grilled beef:  these contain TSNA’s too.  Lets replace the traditional ballpark frank and family barbecue with Tofu and a chorus of “Kumbaya”……NOT.

As to Camel Orbs, Sticks, and the like: no serious smoker is even going to consider them as a nicotine replacement any more than a pill or a patch. If you did your research, you would discover that Reynolds Tobacco rushed these products out because they ARE so obviously appealing to children. Congress in their Holy Fury will “force” Reynolds to withdraw these products”for the sake of the children” and then everyone will cheer; me included. No one wants children becoming nicotine addicts, for goodness sake!

These are throw-away products just like the Marlboro Man and Joe Camel were. Add the $250BB tobacco settlement and now you know part of the reason why the US Government didn’t ban cigarettes in 1964 when the Surgeon Generals Report was released. Reynolds is interested in keeping the horrible Camel SNUS because cigarettes are on their way to being banned. They are going to need a replacement product and of course the US State and Federal Governments will need a replacement product to punitively tax or else the economy really will completely collapse.

Swedish snus was a God Send to me and can be to the 46MM+ American smokers still out there. There is no “second hand snus”. It doesn’t cause mouth, lung,or throat cancer. Nicotine is not a carcinogen…it has a negative affect on the cardio-vascular system. That’s why Swedish snus is only 98% safer than cigarettes, not 100%: nicotine.

Swedish snus is completely discreet: you could be jammed up against someone using snus on a crowded bus or subway and never know it. Swedish Snus is liberating! The nicotine addicted and/or those who just like tobacco and don’t want to quit can use it on airplanes, in meeting, after dinner, in bars, in theaters….anywhere! There is no spitting; no mess; no effect on the person next to them. Swedish Snus also tastes great and comes in well over a hundred different varieties.

The only very tenuous link to cancer is pancreatic. Swedish Snus users are HALF as likely as getting pancreatic cancer than cigarette smokers.

I’ll make it easy for you: go to SnusCENTRAL.org. They have all the studies; all the facts; articles, reviews, etc. in one easy location for you. Then please retract your article and resubmit a factual version.

Larry Waters
Activist Snus Guru
 

PS:  [note:  I don’t write PS’s in my articles.  Sloppy writing.  But remember, this was meant to be a comment in hostile territory and I didn’t want to confuse them by working this into the original comment]

PS:  Second hand smoke was a marketing tool which came out before ANY serious scientific studies were done.  In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) posted a long-term study on their website a few years back of French males who were and were not exposed to “second hand smoke”  There was NO measurable difference in cancer rates! 

The anti-tobacco zealots were outraged and yelled so loud that WHO was forced to take it off it’s website within 24 hours…..Second-Hand-Smoke just means non-smokers don’t like the SMELL of cigarettes. 

That’s OK and that’s why Swedish Snus IS the perfect solution.  But PLEASE don’t insult intelligent people by saying it’s a health hazard!  Show me one legitimate signed Death Certificate which states Second Hand Smoke as the cause of death and I’ll apologize.  Don’t bother looking:  there aren’t any.

The car exhaust you breathe in at your favorite outdoor restaurant or in rush hour traffic is MUCH more deadly than cigarettes.  We’re all just used to that SMELL….

LW