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NOTE: This article first appeared on ClearysNoteBook in 2007, we continue to run it in the hope that Rick Bender's story will stop just one person from chewing tobacco. Not only does chewing tobacco ruin your teeth it can also kill you. If you know someone chewing tobacco show them this article. Also ask to look inside their mouth. One of the signs of oral cancer developing is a white spot on the gum. If there is a spot get them to a dentist right away.~Bill

http://oralcancernews.org

Chewing tobacco is very dangerous, a man who lost part of his face to cancer says.

As fewer teenagers take up smoking, more are turning to chewing tobacco and snuff, health advocates warn. They’re trying to drive home the lesson that a dip is no safer than a drag.

This week, a Kentucky man whose lower face is deformed due to oral cancer caused by chewing tobacco is sharing his story with 5,000 teens at nine Snohomish County schools.

Photo Rick Bender

“A lot of people still think ‘take a pinch instead of a puff,’” Rick Bender told students at Weston High School in Arlington on Tuesday, quoting a 1970s advertisement that influenced him.

Bender and health organizations worry that the industry term “smokeless tobacco” is misleading and are urging a new term: “spit tobacco.”

Continue reading "Smokeless Tobacco Doesn't Mean There's No Fire" »

Talk Alert!

As Teens Consume More Media Parents Can Break Through with "Time To Talk^®"

Going back to school signifies a time of new beginnings – new friends, more difficult classes and exciting experiences. It can also be a challenging time, with added peer pressure when it comes to teen drug and alcohol use.

Today’s teens juggle all these responsibilities and, as new research shows, many are consuming up to 8 hours of entertainment media and technology daily – that adds up to 53 hours a week! Parents report being concerned that with so much teen immersion in technology, it’s difficult for them to break through the media noise and make their voices heard.
While nothing takes the place of a face-to-face conversation, texting can help parents reach reluctant teens in a non-confrontational way to discuss sensitive topics, like drug use and drinking.
That’s why we’ve created a free, downloadable guide called "Time To Text" to help parents harness the power of media and technology to improve parent/child communication. This easy-to-use tool offers tips on how to text, suggests examples of different messages to send to teens and even provides a cheat sheet parents can keep in their wallet. Visit TimeToTalk.org to learn more today!
We are grateful for the generous support of our 2010 Time To Talk^® sponsors: A&E Network, Comcast, Consumer Healthcare Products Association, The Hershey Company, King Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Major League Baseball Charities, Major League Baseball Players Association, Pfizer Consumer Healthcare and Yahoo!