German Snuff Championships: Where Shoving Tobacco Up Your Nose Is a Sport

[Bill Godshall]

German Snuff Championships: Where Shoving tobacco Up Your Nose Is a Sport
German Snuff Championships: Shoving Tobacco Up Your Nose Is a Sport

Quite humorous, although some would call it disgusting.

In fact, dry nasal snuff was by far the leading type of tobacco used in Europe during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.

The epidemiology studies of nasal snuff use have found the products to have higher risk of oral cancer than use of chewing tobacco, moist snuff or snus, but still far lower than cigarette smoking.

While snus is banned in the EU, dry nasal snuff remains legal in the UK, Germany and some other countries.

By substituting nasal snuff for cigarettes, smokers can similarly reduce their risks (as by substituting snus and/or e-cigs).

Interestingly, Star Tobacco company's now defunct Ariva and Stonewall products were technically dry nasal snuff that was recompacted into dissolvable pellets.

 

[Stubby]

I would like to see the epidemiology studies as I have never seen them, or even heard of them. I did hear of one case where someone got cancer from putting dry snuff in their ear for a few decades, but it was never explained why he was using it that way. I have never found a study that shows nasal snuff is more harmful then moist snuff.

Nasal snuff: historical review and health re... [J Laryngol Otol. 2003] - PubMed - NCBI

There are brands of snuff from the UK that have the same low TSNA levels as Swedish snus.

 

[Bill Godshall]

Here's an article that analyzes epidemiology studies of different types of smokeless tobacco products.

Tobacco harm reduction: an alternative cessation strategy for inveterate smokers, Brad Rodu and William T Godshall, Harm Reduction Journal 2006, 3:37doi:10.1186/1477-7517-3-37.
HRJ | Full text | Tobacco harm reduction: an alternative cessation strategy for inveterate smokers

 

[Stubby]

Most of the studies appear to be tied up with the studies on southern women who used nasal snuff orally. That was the same study that has been widely misused to demonize all forms of ST. Even their description of nasal snuff is flawed

Dry snuff is made from fermented, fire-cured tobacco that is pulverized into powder. Nasal inhalation of dry snuff was widely practiced in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries but declined thereafter [37]. Manufacturers in Germany and the U.K. still provide an array of flavored dry snuff products for a small number of contemporary users in those countries. In the U.S. powdered dry snuff, also called dental or Scotch snuff, is sold in small canisters. Since the early 1800s it has been used primarily by women in Southern states [29,38], who place the powder on the gum or between the gum and cheek. However, use of dry snuff is declining, and sales have fallen 67% in the past 15 years [39].

Nasal snuff is not necessary fermented and fire-cured, though I believe the US brands may well be. The US brands also have the highest levels of TSNA. In fact the toque brand from the UK are all sun-cured and non-fermented, and like snus has very low TSNA. They have been unable to find a connection in Europe with oral cancer and nasal snuff and they have been using it for hundreds of years.

It should also be noted that sales of nasal snuff are on the upswing with sales going up about 10% a year from the major manufactures in the UK. It looks as if essentially all of the information the study refers to is from the US.