Q. We hear so much about the dangers of cigarette smoking but you never hear about snuff. My husband and his mother live on the stuff and I cannot stand it. Does the nicotine in snuff have an effect on blood pressure?
A. A pinch of snuff, inhaled through the nose, used to be a common way of using tobacco. It gets nicotine into the blood stream through the blood vessels in the nose.
In the U.S., snuff usually refers to a coarser tobacco designed to be put in the mouth between the cheek and the gum. In both cases, nicotine is absorbed and may constrict blood vessels and raise blood pressure.
