-You no longer get sick or dizzy like you did when you first used dip or chew. This is one of the first signs of addiction.
"My first dip was Copenhagen. It was a hot September afternoon and I was shagging fly balls in center field. My buddy told me to try and I did. I'll never forget how sick I felt." (Andy Van Slyke, Pirates)
"I started out dipping in 1974. I was sitting in the bullpen and a guy said 'Hey, try this' and gave me some Skoal. I put it on my lip and walked maybe 100 feet and I started getting dizzy. It made me almost sick, so I spit it out. After 15 minutes, I was all right. So I went back down to the bullpen and did it again. That's how I got started." (Dave Tomlin, pitching coach, Expos)
-You find yourself dipping or chewing more often, and in more different settings. You've switched to stronger products (with more nicotine).
"I first started dipping in the park and soon I was dipping all the time."
"It got to the point where I needed a dip all the time. For every at bat I'd put in a new one."
"I started with Skoal and moved up to Copenhagen. Before I knew it, I was doing half a can a day."
Smokeless tobacco is just as addicting as cigarettes. This is because they both contain nicotine, a highly addictive drug. There is nicotine in all tobacco products, but smokeless tobacco contains more nicotine than cigarettes do.
-Holding an average size dip or chew in your mouth for 30 minutes gives you as much nicotine as smoking four cigarettes!
-A two-can-a-week snuff dipper gets as much nicotine as a 1-1/2 pack a day smoker.
-Each tin of snuff contains a lethal dose of nicotine.
-All brands of snuff are harmful and addictive. But some brands deliver more harmful chemicals and more nicotine than others do:
Lowest-Hawken, Kodiak, Skoal Bandits Medium-Skoal Highest-Copenhagen, Red Man Snuff (not chew)
"Recognizing that I was addicted is what led me to quit. Being addicted to something, being controlled by something, goes against what I believe in." (Greg McMichael, Durham Bulls).