Whether you light it or not, the threat of tobacco is very real. Here are a few facts you may not know. Smokeless tobacco:

• contains 28 cancer-causing agents and has been shown to cause oral and pancreatic cancers in humans.
• has abrasives to cut gums & lips to speed nicotine delivery that can also wear down teeth.
• can cause receding gums, leaving tooth roots open to disease and decay.

Big tobacco has to replace the 438,000 people it kills each year, and new smokeless products are one area they turn. Flavored and spitless products are new ways they´re targeting younger smokers and women.

• Snus are small packets of moist snuff sold in flavors like "frost," spice" and "peppermint." They come in colorful tins and packages- just like mints & gum.
• They come in colorful tins and packages- just like mints & gum. Smokeless tobacco is marketed as a smoking alternative where smoking is not allowed, encouraging more constant exposure to nicotine, which is extremely addictive.
• In women who used smokeless for 1-13 years, studies showed a 14-times-greater chance of cancer of the gums. Longer users showed a 50-time increased likelihood of the disease.

Anyone who thinks of smokeless tobacco as a "safe" alternative to cigarettes is just plain wrong. In fact, smokeless tobacco can be every bit as harmful.

• A pack of cigarettes has 168mg of Nicotine, but a day´s worth of chewing tobacco has 1,176mg- 7 times as much.
• has abrasives to cut gums & lips to speed nicotine delivery that can also wear down teeth.
• Other effects of Nicotine include peptic ulcer disease, delayed wound healing, increased cholesterol levels and reproductive disorders.