Get the Facts and Ditch Dip for a Day…or for good

Many terms are used to describe smokeless tobacco products, such as oral, chewing snuff, spit, and smokeless tobacco. All forms of smokeless tobacco are addictive and contain chemicals known to cause cancer and a long list of other health problems. Check out these facts about smokeless tobacco and learn about the harmful health effects:

You are likely to get cancer earlier than someone who smokes.

• With 28 cancer-causing chemicals in smokeless tobacco, regular users are at risk for mouth cancer. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/tobacco/smokeless-tobacco
• At some point, 75 percent of smokeless tobacco users may develop leathery white patches or red sores in their mouths, which can turn into cancer. http://www.ada.org/3013.aspx
• Smokeless tobacco users may be as much as 50 times more likely than nonusers to get cancer of the cheek, gums, and throat. http://brown.edu/Student_Services/Health_Services/Health_Education/alcohol,_tobacco,_&_other_drugs/tobacco/smokeless_tobacco.php
• The sooner you quit, and the longer you stay quit, the more you reduce your chances of developing cancer from having used smokeless tobacco. http://cancercontrol.cancer.gov/tcrb/less_quit.html

It negatively affects performance on the job and in the bedroom.

• The nicotine and carcinogens in smokeless tobacco keep your body from working to its full potential. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9179551
• Smokeless tobacco use reduces stamina and performance capacity, increases stress, impairs vision, and decreases healing time while making you more susceptible to injury. http://www-nehc.med.navy.mil/downloads/tobacco/jun2005.pdf (PDF, 551KB)
• Smokeless tobacco users also are more likely to miss work or deployment due to illness or other complications. Users have a higher risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, and heart attacks from the effects of nicotine and the high levels of salt in smokeless tobacco. http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2009/MilitarySmokingCessation.aspx
• Tobacco use can lead to erectile dysfunction for men under age 40. Nicotine in smokeless tobacco restricts blood flow to cause impotence, and it can worsen impotence caused by other conditions. http://www.tobacco.org/news/284769.html

It can cause you to lose your face … literally.

• Users of chewing tobacco are more likely than nonusers to have serious dental problems. Spit tobacco increases your risk of developing cavities and causes gum disease (gingivitis), which can lead to bone and tooth loss. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/chewing-tobacco/CA00019/NSECTIONGROUP=2
• Surgery for oral cancers caused by smokeless tobacco often involves removing large sections of the jaw, tongue, and lips, which greatly affects your appearance, not to mention your quality of life. http://www.cdc.gov/OralHealth/pdfs/oral_cancer.pdf (PDF, 1.1MB)
• Unfortunately, taking care of your teeth by brushing and flossing will not correct the damage that smokeless tobacco causes, not to mention the bad breath. The only way to stop the damage is by quitting.

Quit now. Here's how.

The only good news about smokeless tobacco is that you CAN quit using it. When you’re ready to get started, take advantage of Train2Quit, the interactive system that will help you learn how to quit, set a quit date, and develop your personalized quit plan. You can also find links to local programs that can help you quit, along with information about medications that can make quitting easier and increase your chances of success.