No sooner did smoking tobacco products become illegal indoors in most settings in this state than the irrepressible tobacco industry found another way to keep us hooked.

Teabag pouches of tobacco that avoid the messiness of spitting, tobacco-laced tablets that look like breath mints, and dissolvable strips of fine tobacco that look like gum.  They are being test-marketed elsewhere; and they could soon arrive in Michigan, according to an Aug. 22 post on Freep.com by Robin Erb, medical writer for the Detroit Free Press.  The Michigan Department of Community Health agrees with this assessment and is concerned.

Spitless tobacco that tastes like peppermint or spearmint.  You’ve got to hand it to the tobacco industry.  It’s not short on either ingenuity or gall.

Now, instead of taking a first puff, choking and spiraling into a coughing fit, many youth will take a whiff and want to consume the whole package!  Teens can use the product without telltale smoke or smell.

While smoking rates have been declining among teens, the use of smokeless tobacco has been on the rise for the past decade.  And all this before these new products have reached either the broad market or black market.