Is snus a habit or a hobby? I didn't really have much to add at the time until my latest of the Snuff Takers Ephemeris showed up this weekend. For those who don't know it's a magazine put together by a couple of guys that have a passion for smokeless tobacco. This latest issue, the second to come since the mag's inception is really cool. This thing is really well put together and well written and has articles from Dr. Snus and Larry Waters, as well as a bunch of other folks. As I was thumbing through it and reading some articles it dawned on me. Snus is a habit and a hobby. When I was a smoker - my usage of the burning cancer stick was about as far as it went. When it comes to snus I'm on some snus forums, I regularly read a snus magazine, and I have a website devoted to snus. Needless to say, it's become quite a hobby to me.
I say it's a habit because snus contains nicotine and nicotine is addictive. Despite the video above when some tobacco execs said nicotine wasn't addictive. Hells yes it's addictive. It's why so many people can't quit smoking and I suggest quitting smoking with snus. You may be asking, isn't going from cigs to snus just trading addictions? In the recent 60 Minutes story on snus Dr. Karl Fagerström remarked "Addiction is regarded as unnatural state, so addiction is a problem, but it's less of a problem than lung cancer." As studies have shown snus doesn't cause any kind of cancer - lung, oral, or other, so switching from cigs to snus is a pretty good decision when you can't quit with other means.
Recently I started doing YouTube videos. You can check out the Snubie.com YouTube Channel, I've done quite a lot of videos lately, and I've toyed around with doing snus review videos too. What's interesting is that I'm not the only one on YouTube doing these. There's a very large dip community on YouTube and a growing snus community. You won't find any people more passionate about tobacco than the smokeless folks. It goes far beyond a habit and goes into hobby territory.
One thing I've noticed about snus that makes it more of a hobby is the building of a "stash". When it comes to snusers (mostly in America) it seems we aren't really brand exclusive. A lot of people are pretty close to company exclusive in that they prefer V2 snus or Swedish Match snus, but most snusers have a pretty well developed stash. That's one of the fun parts about snus that make it more of a hobby than any other tobacco habit. Trying out new things, experimenting, developing your flavor profile and finding out a mix of snuses that works for you.
The one thing I like about snus (amongst many others) is that it's far beyond a habit and has become a great hobby for me. I didn't do much before snus when it comes to hobbies. So when I got into snus I found it was a big new world and I've enjoyed every moment of it - from the health advantages to all the new friends I've made and people I've been able to help go from smoking to snus.
Anything I put out that looks well written is really just poorly written and well edited, usually by my wife. Still thanks for the props.
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