The US Department of Defense press release hyping tomorrow's "Great American Spit Out" event, began with this statement: "Using smokeless tobacco—spit, dip, chew, snus, etc.—can pose a stinky, unsavory obstacle to sharing a kiss with a loved one, parent, child or sweetheart. Surgery to treat oral cancer, which has been linked to smokeless tobacco use, can remove parts of the face, tongue, cheek or lip, severely damaging one’s social desirability, not to mention the telltale bulging cheeks, gunk stuck in teeth, permanently discolored teeth and spitting cups--hardly date-bait." Snus and etc. users now spread the Kiss of Death to all their loved ones through Second Hand Snus!!

How did  Matt Myers and the other anti-all-tobacco zealots miss this one?  Where are their press releases; the demands for FDA to "save our children" from the deadly oral transmission of second hand snus?  Why hasn't the CDC in Atlanta launched a bio-hazard alert?  Why hasn't anyone funded Greg Connolly or one of the other anti-all-tobacco "researchers" to conduct one of their so-called studies highlighting the snus Kiss of Death?

Don't wait for Big Pharma to step up.  They intentionally flavor their nicotine gum with mint, cinnamon, and other candy flavors to prevent "stinky" kisses.

Ironically, it may be Reynolds American who will stop the Kiss of Death plague from killing (or at least grossing out) our children and significant others.  SnusCentral researchers have discovered that placing a Reynolds sandwich bag into your mouth and over your lips can stop the threat of the snus Kiss of Death.  Generic plastic sandwich bags may work also but if the bag tears during passionate kissing, your partner will be instantly infected with the snus Kiss of Death.

[Anticipated Government Warning: Be careful not to inhale while kissing as this may cause the sandwich bag to become stuck in your throat causing choking and/or suffocation.  Not to be used by children too young to legally use any tobacco product.  Read all the 52 mandatory warning labels we have required plastic sandwich bag manufacturers to print on their products.    Ask your partner if they have a portion of snus hidden away in their mouth before kissing.  If you contract the snus Kiss of Death, be sure to notify everyone else your partner may have kissed within the last 20 years.  The only proven way to avoid contracting the Kiss of Death is to not kiss anyone; not even your dog.  Now go enjoy your lives.]

I called Alice Potosky, the media contact for the GASpO campaign two days ago.  After expressing my concerns about snus being lumped in with other smokeless tobacco products, she helpfully suggested that I just leave out the word snus when I reprint the press release.  Once I was able to respond, I suggested that maybe DoD should remove any inaccurate references to snus from the press release and on their website.  I further clarified that while I was writing a story on the GASpO, I had no intention of reprinting the press release in any form.

She confessed she really didn't know anything about snus...."isn't that the pouch that dissolves in your mouth?".  She did ask for my contact information so she could forward it to a quoteable subject matter expert at DoD which I did appreciate.  Alice said I may get a response that day but definately would by the following day (yesterday).  The people she forwarded my information to never responded but the SnusCIA has learned I've been added to yet another government watch list.

Once again, liberal social engineers are using our honored military service people as lab rats in their efforts to further the nanny state concept, damn the facts.  Adding insult to injury for Americans, our tax dollars are funding this DOD campaign.  If you have a facebook account, I urge you to go to the the Join the Great American Spit Out page and leave a helpful comment.  If a pop-up asks you to join the Great American Spit Out, just click no.    Here's the comment I left:

For everyones sake, I wish DOD had kept the facts in mind here.  The GASpO press release defines smokeless tobacco as "spit, dip, chew, snus, etc".  

Swedish snus, which represents about 95% of the snus used in the US and world-wide, is not dip or chew.  It is spit-less so no spit cup needed.  Since the SFNA, the Swedish version of our FDA, began regulating snus as a food product in 1970, there is not one documented case of snus causing mouth cancer, throat cancer, tooth loss, gum disease, stomach cancer or oral lesions.  Zero; not one; never, since the SNFA began tracking it over 40 years ago.  

Swedish-style snus is steam pasteurized (unlike dip and chew) reducing the level of carcinogens to the same level as a cup of french roast coffee.  Sweden itself also has the lowest rate of cigarette smokers in the EU and the lowest rate of tobacco-related cancers.

Snus does not belong in the same sentence as snuff or chew.  I wouldn't expect you to encourage snus use but you are doing a great disservice by providing untrue information.  Bad enough we have to put up with the "experts" who just announced that drinking one can of diet soda or any soda with caramel coloring doubles our risk of having a stroke......

Still fantasizing about an honest discussion on tobacco someday,

LARRY WATERS

Swedish Snus Ambassador to the United States
Reporting for SnusCENTRAL.org

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