On Monday, May 9, 2005, at 04:58  AM, LBK1 wrote:

> Of course, it's dangerous in the mouth, but I like to put just an
> inch-long thin twist of Beechnut in my gum for a few hours. It
> definitely kills hunger for me, and I understand nicotine is supposed
> to
> improve memory, or so says Georgetown Univ--no small thing for thems
> thats aways up there. I supposed a nicotine patch could be used, but
> its
> so expensive I haven't tried it and I don't know if the patch would
> also
> cut hunger. Does anyone know how long chaw's been around molding the
> human genome?
>

Not so long. No longer than the American Indians have been around. In
India they chew a different plant, and some Africans have a narcotic
chew too. But tobacco is new world, so if you are not native American,
only a few hundred years at most.

If you look up the statistics, chewing tobacco is not nearly as
dangerous as smoking cigarettes. I grow tobacco at home. It is pretty
easy once you get past to seedling stage, and you don't get all the
insecticides and preservatives they use on the commercial product.