What form of tobacco use is most popular among teenagers?

“The biggest problem with teenagers is not smokeless tobacco. They like to smoke cigarettes, so that’s the problem with teenagers. Smokeless tobacco is usually adults, athletes that like to use it just kind of pass time. It used to be very popular for baseball players to do that when they would sit in the dugout and just chew tobacco.”

 Is smokeless tobacco any safer than regular tobacco?

“No, no it’s not. They’re both are extremely harmful, don’t start either way.”

Why do people start smoking tobacco?

“In my class when we talk about tobacco. I always ask,’why did you start in the first place?’ Most people that start say they tried to cope with stress, and that’s their way of dealing with stress. Teenagers for the most part get influenced by their friends. So they start that way, but a lot of adults say they continue to smoke although they know it’s harmful. They continue to smoke because that’s their way of coping with stress. I don’t know what type of research out there indicates that cigarettes help you kill stress. People say, if they didn’t smoke cigarettes they’d be drinking alcohol or they’d be eating too much food and gaining weight, giving all types of excuses. It’s not really a good habit to start.”

 What are some of the side effects of smoking or chewing smokeless tobacco?

“Of course, as you know, tobacco causes cancer. Smokeless tobacco, the stuff that you chew, can cause cancer of the mouth and I have lots of pictures I can show you. It’s pretty nasty. And then nicotine and all the other chemicals in regular tobacco that people smoke are very harmful, of course. I mean, I can give you a list of chemicals of over 200 chemicals in cigarettes alone that are called or considered carcinogens- cancer causing agents. The bottom line is smoking cigarettes are extremely harmful to your health.”

 What are some of the more visible physical effects?

“Wrinkled skin, yellow teeth, and yellow nails. You look a lot older and of course physical coughing a lot. And this is not something that you’ll see but a lot of people say that when you kiss a smoker, it’s like kissing an ash tray. It’s that nasty. If you’re allergic, it’s like coughing up a storm.”

What would you say to someone who uses tobacco or is considering trying tobacco?

“Bad idea. Just a bad idea. The long term effects of smoking are so bad. I can just list a whole bunch of disease besides lung cancer, bronchitis, emphysema, asthma… The stuff that you’re going to get over your life time as a smoker, you’ll be going to the doctor quite often. You may not die right away, but you’re going to have many health issuers.”