SMoke vs. smokeless tobacco?

Question

I've done research on both and I always hear "chewing is a slightly better alternative than smoking (of course absitinance from both is the best alternative though)".....well then how come i hear about teenagers chewing for three years and already having cancer and dying, but people smoke for like 30 years before they see problems?

Answer 1

Both are bad for you. Both will give you cancer. Smoking generally gives you lung cancer, chewing generally gives you mouth cancer. Both suck. But you're taking more tobacco with each chew than with each cigarette. And don't forget, there are people who see serious problems after only a few years of smoking too. Go to http://comparati.com/, and see if they have a comparison for smoking vs. chewing. They have a lot of comparisons.

Answer 2

Any ingestion of tobacco carries a risk of cancer (among other things). Smoking has a clear association--and this includes pipes and cigars. Snuff and chewing tobacco don't carry the same risk of lung cancer, but are associated with oral, head, neck, laryngeal and esophageal cancers. Bottom line: kick the nicotine habit.

Answer 3

The research is based on population averages which cannot be applied to individual cases. So (as an example, numbers may not be correct) if 100 people smoke for 30 years, 30 will get cancer, 40 will have heart attacks, 30 will get COPD, 30 will have stroke,etc but you can't say which person gets which and when.

On average, fewer chewers than smokers will get sick or die, but you may personally know more sick chewers than sick smokers.