Smokeless tobacco a sin?

[Evan]

Addiction can be an illness, but sometimes ‘illness’ is just an excuse for laziness or lack of will to do the better.

A bad habit is called a vice, a good habit a virtue. You can train yourself using your will to either end.

Drinking to excess can be a habit, ie: go to a bar every night, you will end up with a vice, but it may be an addiction, but not an illness.

You could put a stop to it, don’t go to a bar. Go to adoration instead. Your will is an important part of what you choose to do. We are not animals, we have a will, we have grace, we have a community. These can help break an addiction, or bad habit, but it is often necessary that the addicted but have the will before anything else can help.

 

[Mariem2]

Believe me, real addiction is much, much more than just a habit.

 

[Evan]

Believe me, real addiction is much, much more than just a habit.

That’s true, but it is often not a sickness. OCD can be a sickness, but drugs may be an addiction that started as a habit until you were ‘hooked’ by the body requiring continued injections.

I don’t think OCD cannot be removed, only dealt with. Addictions can be removed and the vice of addiction (defined as a bad habit in the classical sense) by a virtue (a good habit in theology speak)

 

[Brendan_64]

That’s true, but it is often not a sickness. OCD can be a sickness, but drugs may be an addiction that started as a habit until you were ‘hooked’ by the body requiring continued injections.

With alcoholism, people have a genetic or psychological propensity towards this. Why is it that some people get very drunk on a very regular basis and never become addicted, whereas certain people only need a few drinks and they’re addicted?

 

[philial]

Amazing what discussions can result from a bit of shameless product placement!

 

[Mariem2]

Amazing what discussions can result from a bit of shameless product placement!

Well, I never noticed the link to snus. I thought that Swedish studies showed it to be far less carcinogenic than cigarettes. Come to think of it, almost anything is less harmful than cigarettes. Anyone out there trying to kick the smokes should switch to ecigs. About six months ago, I went from 2 packs a day to zero smokes overnight with no withdrawal symptoms. I’m gradually reducing the nicotine level and, God willing, hope to be nicotine free within the next six months.

 

[PJM]

=dog_lover90;10612535]I was wondering if spit-free, smokeless tobacco is a sin or not (www.camelsnus.com). I used to use it, then quit, and have been craving it lately, and even the times that I’m not craving it, it still sounds really good. Through prayer, I have been able to resist the urge to buy some. The reason I hesitate is because I am not sure if it is a sin or not. (I am aware of the health risks, please don’t lecture me on that). Does the Bible and/or Catechism mention this anywhere?

I am not Catholic yet, but I am going to convert. I’m starting RCIA in the fall.

Thank you for the help, and God bless you!

This is an issue of “proper stewardship”

Our bodies in a very real sense are on loan. Therefore we are to honor and respect them and not do things that can or do endanger them.

1st. Cor. 6:15 “Know you not that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.”

1Cor.6: 19-20 “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

So we must keep this in mind in what we eat, drink and “use”. Can ST harm the boby? If so it’s bad. NOT a mortal sin; but a vice which is conditionally sinful.

God Bless and thanks for asking

pat/PJM

 

[dog_lover90]

Thank you all for your answers.

Amazing what discussions can result from a bit of shameless product placement!

For the record, this was not a “shameless product placement”. I was just trying to be clear because I believe there are 2 types of snus (nasal and under-the-lip).
Again, thanks everyone!

 

[asd72]

Where did you guys come up with this?

My Baltimore Catechism doesn’t mention tabacco use.

But does you Baltimore Catechism mention prudence or moderation? We have learnt more in the world of science since then. Now we know that tobacco is both addictive and damaging to health.

Addiction leads to selfishness. As an ex smoker I know I put my addiction before other people many times. It is the nature of addiction. Be prudent and follow the spirit not just the letter.

 

[JustinMissouri]

I was wondering if spit-free, smokeless tobacco is a sin or not (www.camelsnus.com). I used to use it, then quit, and have been craving it lately, and even the times that I’m not craving it, it still sounds really good. Through prayer, I have been able to resist the urge to buy some. The reason I hesitate is because I am not sure if it is a sin or not. (I am aware of the health risks, please don’t lecture me on that). Does the Bible and/or Catechism mention this anywhere?

I am not Catholic yet, but I am going to convert. I’m starting RCIA in the fall.

Thank you for the help, and God bless you!

I enjoy chewing tobacco myself and I have no pangs of conscience about it. My body tells me when it’s time to cut back on it a bit. Just as a person’s body tells him when he has eaten to much or had too much to drink. Nature has a funny way about it.

I have also found, in a funny and half-serious point here, that the more tobacco a practicing Catholic consumes the more traditional they tend to be. “The pipe, the pint and the cross,” as Chesterton said.

 

[mountee]

Where did you guys come up with this?

My Baltimore Catechism doesn’t mention tabacco use.

This is from the catechism:

2290 The virtue of temperance disposes us to avoid every kind of excess: the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco, or medicine. Those incur grave guilt who, by drunkenness or a love of speed, endanger their own and others’ safety on the road, at sea, or in the air. (1809)

Obviously, people can interpret any way they want, the word abuse is probably a stumbling block for some, my interpretation reflects my background and formation. Yes, overheating is wrong, as well as taking medicine for a purpose it wasn’t prescribed for, getting drunk and the use of tobacco is a danger to yourself and others. People disagree, I accept that some might, but smokeless tobacco causes oral cancer, using it means you are abusing a drug and potentially harming your body. These are my thoughts that lead my life, of course your thoughts and choices are yours to make but it is in the catechism.

 

[Brendan_64]

People disagree, I accept that some might, but smokeless tobacco causes oral cancer, using it means you are abusing a drug and potentially harming your body.

You could apply the same thing to overeating, or eating unhealthy foods. Obesity is a major cause of life-threatening diseases today. Is it a sin to be overweight? Is it a sin to eat fast food?

Is it a sin not to do sufficient physical exercise, or reduce one’s food/calorie intake to avoid being over-weight?

 

[mountee]

You could apply the same thing to overeating, or eating unhealthy foods. Obesity is a major cause of life-threatening diseases today. Is it a sin to be overweight? Is it a sin to eat fast food?

Is it a sin not to do sufficient physical exercise, or reduce one’s food/calorie intake to avoid being over-weight?

My response is a reply to the quote. My first response was to the OP asking about using smokeless tobacco. While I understand your point it does not negate the position I have taken and I have to ask, in light of the catechism quoted directly during this thread several times here, #2290, have you read it? Yes, “the virtue of temperance disposes us to avoid evert kind of excess: the abuse of food, alcohol, tobacco and medicine”.

 

[Tomster]

No way.

This is one of those things Chesterton called “the simple pleasures of the common man,” the prohibition of which was the reason for progressives to exist.

Chew away, if you accept the health risks.

Additionally, Bl. Pope John XXIII indulged in turkish cigarettes. Non-filtered I believe.

 

[SMHW]

I do not smoke, chew, or otherwise make use of tobacco. I find cigarette smoke to be extremely obnoxious.

But I simply don’t understand how people conclude that moderate use of tobacco constitutes abuse of tobacco.