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Chew on this (classification essay)


            On average 20% of high school males in the United States use smokeless (CDC 1993). My brother and many of my friends started using smokeless tobacco before the ninth grade, while I waited until the tenth. Smokeless tobacco was considered "cool" because many of the popular students used it. Smokers were not permitted to play high school sports or smoke during school hours, yet smokeless tobacco users were permitted to do both. Eventually I tried all four types of smokeless tobacco before graduating high school.
             Oral snuff was the most popular of the four smokeless tobaccos. My brother and I both started using this type first. Oral snuff was also the most popular in sports because the containers were small and easily stored in team uniforms during games. Added popularity was given to those who had the ability to compact the tobacco by banging their middle finger against the tobacco can with only one hand, and the more one could fit between their cheeks and gum the cooler they were.
             While oral snuff was the most popular, loose leaf chew was a strong second place. Loose leaf chew was mostly used by the country and western music crowds. It was also rarely used during school hours, due to the user typically having to spit more frequently than with any other smokeless tobacco. Loose leaf chew had a sweeter taste than oral snuff, so women would sometimes use it while at parties or other social gatherings.
             While women would occasionally use other types of smokeless tobacco, plug chew was known for being a more feminine chewing tobacco. I knew four girls in high school who used plug tobacco regularly because of the high levels of sugar and other sweeteners that the women found more appealing than the men. While some of my male friends started out using plug chew, they all switched after a short time to a stronger and fuller tasting tobacco. Some of my friends would occasionally still use plug tobacco, but passing it off as if they were chewing bubble gum.


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