Wyoming has the highest rate of smokeless tobacco users in the country and 800 tobacco-related deaths each year. For many users, chewing and spitting snuff is about as cowboy as it comes. Yet it’s coming at a cost to our state.
We’re tightening the lasso and debunking the most common chewing tobacco myths.
Legend has it that…
…Smokeless tobacco is safer than smoking tobacco.
FALSE: There is no safe tobacco product. Like cigarettes, chewing tobacco can cause serious health problems such as heart disease and cancer. Snuff also increases your chance of gum disease and tooth decay.
…Smokeless tobacco doesn’t cause cancer.
FALSE: Smokeless tobacco contains 28 cancer-causing agents. Users are 50 times more likely to get oral cancer than non-users.
…Smokeless tobacco is part of cowboy culture.
FALSE: The wad in your lip may make you feel like a cowboy, but chewing tobacco comes with unattractive side effects. It stains your teeth, causes bad breath and can form lesions in your mouth.
Reshape the cowboy image and be through with chew. For help with quitting, visit the Wyoming Quit Tobacco Program.
