Smoking is not the only issue, the WTS does not allow snuff or chewing tobacco either.
*** g96 4/22 p. 26 Smokeless Tobacco—Is It Harmless? ***
For example, those who regularly chew or dip can get cracked lips, stained teeth, bad breath, and sore gums—nothing to smile about. In addition, their ability to taste and smell decreases while their heartbeat and blood pressure increase—bad news indeed. The real bad news, though, is that studies conducted in Europe, India, and the United States show that smokeless tobacco causes cancer in the cheeks, gums, and throat. These findings do not surprise experts. One study notes: “Snuff has the highest level of cancer-causing agents of any product taken into the body.” No wonder that “long-term snuff users have a 50% greater risk of developing oral cancer than nonusers.”
Contrary to what young people may think, dipping does not lessen nicotine intake. One can of smokeless tobacco a day delivers as much nicotine as 60 cigarettes! “Smokeless tobacco users,” notes Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People, ‘absorb at least as much nicotine as smokers do—perhaps as much as twice the amount.’ (Italics ours.) Besides nicotine, smokeless tobacco contains ten times more nitrosamines (powerful cancer-causing substances) than cigarettes.
Be Smart
“There is absolutely no question that these are harmful products,” said Dr. Roy Sessions, a head-and-neck surgeon. “They produce a state of dependency that most people feel is much harder to break than smoking.” Dental-cancer specialist Dr. Oscar Guerra concluded: “The body just doesn’t like the stuff.” Experts around the world agree: Dipping is more than a pinch of trouble. It can snuff you out!
Christian youths have an even more compelling reason than health concerns to stay away from tobacco products—their desire to please Jehovah God. His Word commands: “Let us cleanse ourselves of every defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in God’s fear.”—2 Corinthians 7:1.
*** w74 12/15 p. 742 Insight on the News ***
Betel Nut and Cancer
● About 300 million people—or nearly one out of every twelve persons on earth—chew betel nut. This product of the areca palm is a major item in marketplaces throughout southern Asia and related islands. A stimulant, it is generally chewed along with a small amount of lime, and the chewer is usually distinguished without difficulty by the copious flow of brick-red saliva, temporarily staining lips and teeth.
Jehovah’s witnesses class the chewing of betel nut as an unclean practice unworthy of a follower of Jesus Christ, basically as unacceptable as the use of tobacco.