Is there such a thing as safe chewing tobacco?

Although there is a recent study out of the University of Louisville School of Dentistry that uses chewing tobacco to help "wean" patients off of cigarettes with the intent to then discontinue the chewing tobacco, one should not assume that chewing tobacco is somehow a "safe" alternative to cigarettes or cigars. Chewing tobacco causes changes in the oral mucosa that can become cancer. There is no safe chewing tobacco.