snus

Swedish form of tobacco that you put under your lip. It comes in lots of different flavors.
Snus gives you more nicotine than cigarettes do, but it hasn't been proven to cause cancer. However, it is highly addictive and usually harder to give up than cigarettes.

Not entirely sure if it's the same as, but is quite similar to dipping snuff like Copenhagen, Skoal, Timberwolf, etc... used by computer folk all over East Texas.

The advantages are :
Stronger buzz
No smoke
Not having to take a break to support your habit

The disadvantages are :
Constantly hacking and spitting
Cans strewn about with no lids filled with spit
Easy to forget which can you spit in and which can you're drinking out of
Leaves you with foul looking teeth and breath that can melt stainless steel
Breathmints will laugh and run at the sight of the user
Gives user all sorts of strange cancers in their mouths

I've heard and read rumours that in order to aid the absorption of the nicotine, Snus contains small glass particles that score or cut the lip and gum slightly. This is held to be the cause of the "numb gum" feeling that the product contributes to. However this is an urban myth due to occasional development of salt crystals in older Snus products.

Snus is the subject of some macho national pride in Sweden. It is illegal in the rest of the European Union, and the EU tried to have it banned in Sweden, having succeeded in doing so for Finland.

As of spring 2002 the warninglabel on snus-packages in Sweden was changed.

It used to say "Causes Cancer" and nowadays it says:
"This tobacco product is addictive and might be unhealty for you"

The cause for this change was that several independant research projects didnt find any link between snus and cancer.

(Snus-packages are shaped like hockeypucks....)

Swedish Snus and American wet tobacco like Skoal, Copenhagen etc are not the same thing.

Copenhagen, Skoal and the other American "snuffs" long- or short cut doesn't have the same strength nicotine wise as the swedish "snus". Neither can it be "molded" in the same way. Swedish snus sticks together better. if you just take a pinch or "bake" it into a ball first it will stay together in your mouth and you won't have to spit all the time like when using "snuff".

Also Snuff is usually placed in a loose pinch in the bottom lip, producing lots of saliva.

Snus is placed under your upper lip and is kept there until discarded.

Also the snuff drips more because it's more wet than snus. Even the snuff pouches drip alot whereas the pouches of snus are relatively dry and doesn't drip at all.

 

I hope this clears things up. If you have questions then just ask. I've used all kinds since I'm a Swede living in USA atm.