Studies show that young people believe that smokeless tobacco is a safe alternative to cigarette smoking. Young people also have easy access to product. Chewing tobacco consists of a tobacco leaf that is shredded or compressed into a plug that the user can chew. A free oral cancer screening was sponsored by the Radiation Therapy Department at Methodist Hospital in conjunction with the Little Red Door on Saturday, April 24. If you missed it and would like to make an appointment or receive more information, please call 929-3172.
Youth start dipping and chewing at very young ages.
The average age of first use is only 12 years old. Use of smokeless tobacco by young people is increasing at an alarming rate- in some schools it is more of a problem than smoking. A person who chews two cans of smokeless tobacco a week gets as much nicotine as a person who smokes 1.5 packs of cigarettes a day. A recent study showed that nicotine exposure in the blood stream was actually twice as great for smokeless tobacco as for cigarettes.