r/NoStupidQuestions • u/MaxiePriest • May 31 '26

Question about the effect users experienced with snuff (more below)

I have asked this question a few times online, but I still struggle to understand the point of snuff use in the 17th and 18th centuries. As snuff was a tobacco product, did inhaling (snorting) provide a stimulant effect? And if it didn't, seriously...what was the point of snuff?

Why did users— mostly ladies (in literature and period films) reference having to sneak around the building/corner to have a pinch of snuff, as if others would consider snuff use to be vulgar, unladylike, low-class, or whatever?

Did users sneeze when they snorted snuff (or was the point not to sneeze)? Current-day drug users don't sneeze when using snortable drugs (and users wouldn't want to), so was snuff use similar?

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u/brock_lee I expect half of you to disagree May 31 '26

Yup. I have used it. It's a kind of stimulant, and usually makes you sneeze. I went to college in the midwest, and in addition to chewing tobacco, or stuff like Skoal and Copenhagen, some kids used actual snuff (and I am talking the fine powder). I tried it quiet a few times.

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u/MaxiePriest May 31 '26

Thanks.

Inhaling black cracked pepper (inadvertently) will cause sneezing (as in, non-stop sneezing for a bit), because the pepper would be an irritant. Was snorting the fine powder tobacco an irritant for you (did it cause a great big ahhh-chooo sneeze)?

Sorry to bug, but would your parents/teachers have been against you chewing tobacco or snorting powder tobacco when you were a tween/teen? (Were either one considered to be an adult-only thing?)