Some Bangladeshis have the habit of chewing Pan - either with or without tobacco. According to Wikipedia, Pan or Paan is a type of snack (very popular in South Asia), which consists of fillings wrapped in a triangular package using leaves of the Betel pepper (Piper betle) and held together with a toothpick or clove.
Folks in the office usually use the one with tobacco. It has a very distinctive smell. Whenever I'm in the car or talking to someone that is chewing pan I actually feel ill to my stomach. Sometimes in close quarters - I can actually get nauseous from the smell.
When chewing pan, after about 20 minutes, the fibrous residue which remains of the leaf is spat out (many times on the street, where it remains visible due to its characteristic bright red pigment). You can usually recognize people with a pan habit from red stains on their teeth or sometimes on their beards (from the red spittle).
More info from Wikipedia:
Betel - Chewing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betel
In India and parts of Southeast Asia, the leaves are chewed together with mineral lime (calcium oxide) and the areca nut which, by association, is sometimes inaccurately called the "betel nut". The lime acts to keep the active ingredient in its freebase or alkaline form, thus enabling it to enter the bloodstream via sublingual absorption. The areca nut contains the alkaloid arecoline, which promotes salivation (the saliva is stained red), and is itself a stimulant. This combination, known as a "betel quid", has been used for several thousand years. Tobacco is sometimes added.
Betel leaves are used as a stimulant, an antiseptic and a breath-freshener Paan. In Ayurvedic medicine, they are used as an aphrodisiac. In Malaysia they are used to treat headaches, arthritis and joint pain. In Thailand and China they are used to relieve toothache. In Indonesia they are drunk as an infusion and used as an antibiotic. They are also used in an infusion to cure indigestion, as a topical cure for constipation, as a decongestant and as an aid to lactation.
In India, they use betel to cast out (cure) worms.
In India, the betel and areca play an important role in Indian culture especially among Hindus. All the traditional ceremonies governing the lives of Hindus use betel and areca. For example to pay money to the priest, they keep money in the betel leaves and place it beside the priest.
The betel and areca also play an important role in Vietnamese culture. In Vietnamese there is a saying that "the betel begins the conversation", referring to the practice of people chewing betel in formal occasions or "to break the ice" in awkward situational conversations. The betel leaves and areca nuts are used ceremonially in traditional Vietnamese weddings. Based on a folk tale about the origins of these plants, the groom traditionally offer the bride's parents betel leaves and areca nuts (among other things) in exchange for the bride. The betel and areca are such important symbols of love and marriage such that in Vietnamese the phrase "matters of betel and areca" (chuyện trầu cau) is synonymous with marriage.
A related plant P. sarmentosum, which is used in cooking, is sometimes called "wild betel leaf".
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