4 — Wednesday, November 6, 1991 — North Shore News

Further battles with the

JUST AS a little updater, I
am happy to report that I
am now five weeks off nic-

otine.

Big deal, of course. I mention it
only to keep the flame of hope
alive for those readers who may
be nicotine junkies struggling in
their own lonely but heroic way
with the killer drug addiction.

You'll be glad to know that no
matter how often you fail, you
can always try again.

I first tried stopping smoking
when I was 17. At various times, I
tried virtually everything to quit.
Laser therapy. Acupuncture.
Heavy bets. Hypnotism. Sensory
deprivation. Trips abroad. Sex.
Tranqs.

This time, I’m seeing a
naturopath who usés a combina-
tion of ancient Chinese herbal
remedies, chiropractic massage
and psychoanalysis.

- As I said, I'll try anything once.
In fact, | remember a time when I
did indeed try anything — in this
case, snoose.

It may be that there are readers
who don’t know anybody who
chews snoose nowadays. It's con-
sidered weird encugh in some cir-
cles to smoke nicotine, never mind
suck it. .

_ 2 Tcan’t say I hang out with a
whole lot.of snoose-chewers
myself, but! did get to know one
a few years back. He was the
mate on a fish-packer. He in-
troduced me to Copenhagen chew-
ing tobacco, his favorite brand.

He bragged that he had gotten
off cigarettes by chewing snoose.

‘He admitted he was hooked on
the snoose now, “but at least it
doesn’t ruin your lungs.”*

Bob
Hunter

STRICTLY PERSONAL

At first glance, snoose is a fair-
ly disgusting habit. Actually, at
second glance it’s a disgusting
habit too. On third glance, it’s
enough io make you throw up.

But anything to save the old
lungs, ch? I gave snoose a good
sry, reasoning that while the inside
of a snoose-chewer’s mouth may
be a sickening sight, imagine how
much worse a smoker’s lungs
must be.

The first chomp on a piece of
snoose is rough. You take a pinch
of the stuff and pack it between
your teeth and lower lip.

After a while, it starts to burn
your gums.

This triggers a saliva response,
forcing you to spit quite frequent-
ly. It is this spitting business that
turns some people off, although I
would say the only distinction be-
tween a snoose-chewer and a
smoker is that a smoker doesn’t
spit the stuff out until he’s already

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well on his way to dying from
cancer.

The trick is not to spit the
snoose out with the saliva until it
has had a.chance to be absorbed
through the gums into your
system.

My guru on this matter, the
mate on the fish-packer, assured
me: “It’s the next best thing to
injecting nicotine with a needle.”

Whew! I mean, nervous system
overload city:

The mate wasn’t a particularly
happy guy, despite his brilliant
solution to the smoking problem.

It turns out, he explained, there
2ren’t that many jobs available to
a snoose-chewer. Working on a
boat, sure. Then there’s logging
camps, mines, dumpsites, maybe a
railway yard.

You don’t see many bus drivers,
bankers, real estate salesmen,
waiters, psychology professors or
barbers who chew snoose.

My thinking on the matter was
that a reporter could get away
with it as long as he was discreet.

We do, otherwise, tend to
discriminate against the snoose-
chewer, even though he or she is
most definitely not causing
second-hand smoke, and therefore
no harm to anybody around them,
except maybe somebody trying to
eat, drink, view the scenery or
read poetry.

Even now, in the '90s, while
you still find ashtrays here and «
there, do you find any spittoons?

l remember at the time, back ia
the early °70s, getting misty-eyed
about the poor snoose-chewer’s
plight. He hardly had any friends
he could visit for very long before
the urge to have a chew came over
him and he’d have to go outside,

L

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regardless of the weather, tc chew
and spit.

Back then, I thought it was a
sad commentary on our society
that we would be so cruel, just
because a guy had a loathesome
habit.

Today, of course, we de it
routinely.

I gave up on snoose before I’d
really gotten into it. Maybe i
didn’t give it a fair chance.

But I quickly picked up a vibe
from my wife, family, friends,
neighbors and colleagues — as
well as total strangers — that they
were less than thrilled to find me

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iller weed!

hucking huge brown gobs of
tobacco hither and yon.

Even though I chickened out, I
still think that snoose-chewing is
the most honest form of nicotine
addiction, and therefore in its own
way, the least dishonorable.

There are no ads pretending
that snoose will make you
widely-respected, famous or pow-
erful. No pretense that it makes
you intellectual. Not the faintest
suggestion that the opposite sex
will throw itself into your arms,

_ seeking some kind of tongue in-

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NOTICE TO MOTORISTS

PORTEAU BLUFFS ROCK SCALING PROJECT.
SEA-TO-SKY HIGHWAY 99

The Ministry of Transportation and Highways advises that there will be 20
minute delays on the Sea-to-Sky Highway at Porteau Bluffs, 25 km riorth of
Horseshoe Bay, from Monday November 4 until Friday November 15. The
delays are needed for rock scaling, bolting and blasting work. Delays: are o

scheduled as follows:

Monday to Thursday
9:00 AM — 4:00 PM

Friday

9:00 AM - 12:30 Noon’

There will be no delays on Friday afternoons or on weekends.

For further intormation, please contact the Ministry of Transportation and fm
Highways 24-Hour Road Report at 525-4997 (Greater Vancouver), 938-4997 jf
(Whistler), 371-4997 (Kamloops), 860-4997 (Kelowna), 855-4997 (Abbotsford),
380-4997 (Victoria), and Cellular users (*4997). In all other areas please call

1-800-663-4997.

Province of

British Columbia

rr

Ministry of Transportation

and Highways