I am a teen who is in teh process of quitting dip. I have been doing it on and off for about a year and a half to 2 years. I am not some1 who does it every day. I tend to get very paranoid when i find anything wrong with my mouth however (rite now i have a red sore for about a week, but appears to be gettin smaller) But my question is in general how long do u have ot use a tobacco product before you get cancer?
Thank you

Dear Bailer - I'm so glad you've decided to quit. It is no fun at all having to go thru cancer surgery and radiation or chemo treatments. It affects your whole family. There is a guy (Outdoor Texan) who has posted here and also speaks to teens about his quitting dip. You'll get lots of information at his site:
http://www.outdoortexan.com./mycancer.htm
As to your question, if you already have a red sore, in your mouth, it's best to get it checked out so that you know for sure if it is cancer. There is a whole lot of information and knowledgeable and compassionate people here that can help with whatever questions you have. Let us know what happens.

Baller


I don't think anyone can tell you how long you need to chew before you can get cancer. But the fact that you wanna stop is Great !! As I am sure you know it increases you risk . ANd Trust US this is NOTHING you want to deal with . If you have a sore , anything longer then 2 weeks that dosen't heal it is important to have it checked . and check out that site that Anne-marie sent you !1

Shar

Thanks for the quick responses. As i said, i have a red sore (appears to be a canker sore) on mi bottom lip (it has a red tip as well). It has been there for a lil under 2 weeks, but i think it is smaller than it was about a week ago. It is not painful just annoying. I think it is due to irritation from a lip i packed 2 weeks ago wen i was sucking too hard (my friend told me this can cause sores in the mouth). Also as i said, i am now in the process of quitting, i decided no need to increase the likelihood of getting sick in a world where it seems liek everything leads to cancer. This is y i asked in general how long it takes for tobacco use to lead to cancer. I have only been doing it for about a year and feel that this is not long enough (maybe just for comfort, who knows?) However, i would like to thank every1 here for the responses, it really helps me. I will continue to monitor the sore, i do not believe it is anything serious, and am just a little paranoid. I will keep people updated and will stay in touch.
Thanks again