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Chewing Tobacco is Dangerous and Addictive: Smokeless Tobacco doesn't mean Harmless |
| You don't smoke it. You don't swallow it. All you do is slosh it around your mouth and spit out the brown juices every few seconds. OK, so it actually is pretty disgusting. But so what? After all, it's called smokeless or chewing tobacco. That means you chew and spit it, not smoke it, so it can't be as bad as inhaling tobacco smoke into your lungs, right? Wrong . . . unfortunately, smokeless doesn't mean harmless. The fact is, chewing tobacco is every bit as dangerous as smoking it. Whether it's snuff or chewing tobacco, you're supposed to let it sit in your mouth and suck on the tobacco juices, spitting often to get rid of the saliva that builds up. This sucking and chewing allows nicotine, which is a drug you can become addicted to, to be absorbed into the bloodstream through the tissues in your mouth. You don't even need to swallow. Chewing tobacco was associated with baseball players for many years. By the 1950s, chewing tobacco had fallen out of favor in most of America. Instead of chewing their tobacco, most people were smoking it. But, in the 1970s, people became more aware of the dangers of smoking. Thinking it was a safe alternative to lighting up, baseball players started chewing on their tobacco again. Some players even developed the habit of mixing their chewing tobacco with bubble gum and chewing the whole thing. Gross, huh? These days, you don't find the majority of professional ballplayers with wads of chaw in their cheeks. But lots of young people, athletes or not, still find time for chewing and spitting. As many as 20% of high school boys and 2% of high school girls use smokeless tobacco, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most developed the habit before they were 13. So What's the Danger? Just like smoking cigarettes, chewing smokeless tobacco can eventually rip apart your body and kill you. It's that simple, really. There's no such thing as a "safe" tobacco product. Chewing tobacco as a young man cost baseball player Bill Tuttle him his jawbone, his right cheekbone, a lot of his teeth and gum line, and his taste buds. Other baseball players have met a similar fate. Babe Ruth, was fond of dipping and chewing tobacco. He died at age 52 of a cancerous tumor in the back part of the throat. But, of course, it isn't just baseball players who learn to regret their choice to start chewing tobacco. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, each year, about 30,000 Americans learn they have mouth and throat cancers, and nearly 8,000 Americans die of these diseases. Sadly, only about half of people with diagnosed mouth or throat cancer survive more than 5 years. What Can Chewing Tobacco Do to Me? The more immediate effects can disrupt your social life: bad breath and yellowish-brown stains on your teeth. You'll also get mouth sores (about 70% of spit tobacco users have them). But, it gets a lot more serious than that. Consequences of chewing and spitting tobacco include: cracking and bleeding lips and gums receding gums, which can eventually make your teeth fall out increased heart rate, high blood pressure, and irregular heartbeats, all leading to a greater risk of heart attacks and brain damage (from a stroke) Cancer Oral cancer means cancer of the mouth and can happen in the lips, the tongue, the floor of the mouth, the roof of the mouth, the cheeks, or gums. It's been medically proven that long-time use of chewing tobacco can lead to cancer. But cancer from chewing tobacco doesn't just occur in the mouth. Some of the cancer-causing agents in the tobacco can get into the lining of your stomach, your esophagus, and into your bladder. Quitting the Dipping If you're a dipper, put some long thought into breaking the habit and quitting now. When you decide to quit, don't do it alone. Tell friends or family and enlist their support. Strategies for breaking the habit include:
It's
tough to quit, but realize that backsliding is common, so don't give
up. Your chances of success increase with each try! Adapted from www.kidshealth.org |
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