Washington, D.C. – April 14, 2010 – Deadly and addictive smokeless tobacco products came under scrutiny today during a Congressional hearing examining use of the products by professional athletes and their effect on influencing youth to take up the habit.
Although cigarette smoking has declined among high school boys in the past decade, the use of smokeless tobacco, which contains as many as 28 carcinogens, has increased among that age group in recent years. Nationwide, 13.4 percent of high school boys and 2.3 percent of high school girls currently use smokeless tobacco products.
Following is a statement by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network:
“Athletes and other role models who use tobacco products put their deadly habit on display for the youth who follow their careers and aspire to be like them. Although Major League Baseball executives and trainers have made progress in reducing smokeless tobacco use among players in recent years, baseball remains of particular concern because smokeless tobacco use is so closely tied to the culture of the sport and players use the product in public view. We should be encouraging athletes to serve as role models for living an active, healthy lifestyle, not as enablers for the deadly problem of tobacco use.
“The dangers of smokeless tobacco are severe: smokeless users are 50 times more likely to develop oral cancer than non-users and have an increased risk of death from heart diseases and stroke. Also, the likelihood of cigarette smoking is higher among smokeless tobacco users than among non-users.
“The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which was signed into law last year, takes several steps to reduce smokeless tobacco accessibility and marketing to youth. Among other provisions, the law implements new and larger warning labeling requirements on smokeless tobacco products; prohibits free samples of smokeless tobacco, except in adult-only facilities; and prohibits the sale of smokeless tobacco products through vending machines and self-service displays, except in facilities where individuals under the age of 18 are not present at any time.
“We applaud the Subcommittee on Health of the House Energy and Commerce Committee for taking a hard look at how this continued practice is affecting youth initiation and normalization of smokeless tobacco products.”
ACS CAN, the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, supports evidence-based policy and legislative solutions designed to eliminate cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage elected officials and candidates to make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer with the training and tools they need to make their voices heard. For more information, visit www.fightcancer.org.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Christina Saull
(202) 585-3250
[email protected]
Steven Weiss
(202) 661-5711
[email protected]