I Really, Really Like Chewing Tobacco. Well, I Did Once.

Nicotine is pretty awesome stuff, but it’s addictive.

When I was in my 20s, I tried chewing tobacco for the first time. I was at a party with a bunch of people who were much older than me. They were all doing tequila shots and drinking beer.

A stranger I met was putting dark tobacco powder from a tiny tin can in his mouth, and I asked what he was doing. He showed me his Copenhagen “Snuff” and explained how to use it. He asked if I wanted to try some. In one of the few rash decisions I’ve ever made in my adult life, I said, “Sure, why not?”

“Sit down first,” he told me.

I had no idea why he said this, but I pulled up a chair and sat down. I watched as he showed me how to use my fingers to pinch a wad of dark black stuff that looked like wet coffee grounds and stick it between my lips and teeth.

The whole thing was so bizarre, but I did exactly like he did.

“Whoa, hold on — not so much,” he said. “If this is your first time, use a smaller pinch.”

I put the wad of weird, moist, dark stuff in my mouth. It tasted awful; it smelled like gasoline, and I got little bits of it all over my tongue, which made me want to spit it out.

At first, nothing happened.

“Hold on, it takes a minute to kick in,” the man told me. He was right.

WHOOSH!

I felt a wave of euphoria crash into me like I was on a beach and had just been knocked over by the tide. My head started spinning and I looked up at the ceiling, which was now rotating above me, and it seemed like I was seasick.

I didn’t actually feel seasick, though: I felt very, very good — it was a strange, pleasant feeling that made me very happy.

“Oh, wow…” I said with a huge smile.

“Do you like it?” he asked.

“Yes… I LOVE it,” I replied slowly like I was floating in a warm bath.

What he said next surprised me.

“Okay. If you really like it, you should never ever try it again. Because if you do, you’ll get addicted to it.”

Thanks to this man and his comment. I never did try chewing tobacco ever again; I just had that one and only experience.

I think about this all the time: I’m not a fan of addictive substances, and I don’t want to be controlled by anything. I do enjoy coffee and wine, but this idea of being literally addicted to something really turns me off.

I haven’t noticed chewing tobacco or related products in the years since that evening until very recently. Smokeless tobacco products seem to be making a big splash, with companies like Zyn becoming hugely successful. Even Tucker Carlson recently started his own nicotine pouch company, and it seems like it’s becoming very trendy.

The other day, I noticed that at the end of one of his videos hawking ALP, there’s a disclaimer that says: “We’re not here to recruit new users, so if nicotine isn’t already your thing, don’t let ALP be the reason to start.”

This is a great warning. It’s much better than the bland “WARNING: This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical” notice right above it that we all just ignore because we’ve already heard it a million times.

I’m not exactly sure why I’m sharing this right now. I suspect it might be because I did have a good experience with chewing tobacco, I am tempted to try it again, and that ALP might be “the reason to start.”

If that’s the case, I’m probably making this public statement to hold myself accountable not to start using it. I’m not sure.

But at the end of the day, what happened was that I tried it once… and that was it. I don’t regret trying it, and I don’t regret not becoming addicted to nicotine.

Other people may have different experiences, and that’s fine… but this is mine.

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