Dr. Richard Henry, Val Verde Dental Associates, and Jackson County Tobacco Education Committee (JCTEC), have proclaimed this week as "Through with Chew Week" in an effort to call attention to the use of smokeless tobacco. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that 8.4% of United States senior high school students use smokeless tobacco. This public awareness campaign is designed to reduce the use of smokeless tobacco among young people. Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) members from across Jackson County will be addressing youth about health risks commonly associated with this type of tobacco and how the Big Tobacco Industry entices them to use this product by making it candy flavored. Jacob Taylor, Blair SWAT President stated, "Big Tobacco uses our generation as replacements for the tobacco users that have died. Pictured is Dennie Christian, JCTEC program director and Dr. Richard Henry.

kson County Tobacco Education Committee has provided area

dentists with guides to quitting spit tobacco and oral cancer information

which will be available for their patients. Wendell Browne, JCTEC Committee

Chairman stated, "Hopefully, this information will save a life. It focuses

on performing oral cancer screenings and how to quit tobacco if you are

ready." Browne was quick to point out, "There is free help available to

Jackson County residents who wish to quit using tobacco. They just need to

call the Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline at 1-800-QUIT-NOW." This helpline is

free to all Oklahoma residents and is funded by the Oklahoma Tobacco

Endowment Trust.

"Smokeless tobacco is not a safe alternative to cigarettes, as

some young people believe, and it is even more habit forming because it

contains a higher concentration of nicotine than cigarettes," stated Jack

Duquette, SWAT member from Altus Intermediate School. In the U.S., 30,000

people are diagnosed with mouth and throat cancer each year, and 8,000 die

of these cancers. Early detection of oral cancer is key to reducing the

morbidity rate. Smokeless tobacco can cause oral cancer, especially in the

cheeks, guns, and throat. In addition, smokeless tobacco is addicting. Dr.

Henry stated, "The use of smokeless tobacco can also lead to other oral

problems, such as mouth sores, gum recession, tooth decay, bad breath, and

permanent discoloration of teeth."

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Through With Chew Week is sponsored locally by the Jackson

County Tobacco Education Committee and Students Working Against Tobacco

(SWAT). SWAT is an organization under the Jackson County Tobacco Control

Program (jctcp), which is a Communities of Excellence Program of Southwest

Oklahoma Community Action Group, Inc., and in partnership with Jackson

County Community Health Action Team (JCCHAT). For more information about

SWAT or tobacco efforts in Jackson County, please call Southwest Oklahoma

Community Action Group, Inc. at 482-5040.