HUNDREDS of top footballers using stimulant drug snus are being warned they are “putting poison in their mouths’’.
Players are turning to the moist tobacco in the belief it boosts performance and mental sharpness.
The snuff-like drug is placed behind the top lip in teabag-style pouches.
Each one contains as much nicotine as three cigarettes. It is absorbed through the gums into the bloodstream.
But tobacco expert Prof Stanton Glantz said: “They are bathing their mouths in cancer-causing toxins. They should not be putting poison in their mouths.”
Some sport scientists say nicotine can improve performance.
But ex-Stoke and Southampton star Danny Higginbotham rejected claims that snus is a performance-enhancer.
Danny, 39, used the pouches for 15 years during his career. He said: “It just relaxes you. I was never told it would benefit me in terms of performance.”
Sales of snus (pronounced snooze) have been illegal in Britain since 1992 but it can be bought on the internet for as little as £7.99 a pack.
The drug, which is popular in Scandinavia, is not illegal to own or use. It is also not banned from sports, but is constantly reviewed by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
One unnamed player who regularly used snus has undergone treatment for gum cancer.
England star Jamie Vardy was pictured leaving the team hotel clutching a tin of Thunder brand snus during Euro 2016.
He said at the time: “I found they helped me chill out. A lot more footballers use them than people realise, and some even play with them in matches.”
GATEWAY TO CIGARETTES
By Stanton Glantz, Tobacco expert at California University
LINKED to several cancers, snus is unequivocally a bad thing.
Tobacco firms promote it as “safer” than smoking, but whether you jump from the tenth storey of a building or the 20th, the effect is the same.
Studies show kids who see their favourite sportsmen using tobacco are more likely to go on to use it too.
And tobacco products like snus or e-cigarettes are gateway drugs to cigarettes. So these sportsmen are harming a lot more people than just themselves.
MOST READ IN HEALTH
Cancer Research UK said: “Snus use has been linked to pancreatic and oesophageal cancer.”
Last night Stoke City star Charlie Adam said snus use is rife. He added: “It’s big in the game — Premier League, League One, League Two, the Championship. It’s the in thing.”
One Championship manager told the Daily Mail: “It’s absolutely rife. It gives you a buzz.”
A League One manager said: “Some of the subs will go through two or three a game. You can see the used pouches on the floor of the dugout. It’s disgusting.”
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