Updated: 5.23.06

pit. Chew. Snuff. All are names for smokeless tobacco products that are heavily marketed to our kids and have been shown to increase the risk of serious disease, including oral cancer.

An advisory committee to the U.S. Surgeon General concluded, "the oral use of smokeless tobacco represents a significant health risk. It is not a safe substitute for smoking cigarettes. It can cause cancer and a number of non-cancerous oral conditions and can lead to nicotine addiction and dependence." Other government and scientific authorities agree.

Despite this scientific consensus, U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company (USSTC), the nation's largest smokeless tobacco manufacturer, claimed in 2002 (and again in 2005) that "smokeless tobacco has not been shown to be the cause of any human disease." USSTC now wants government approval to market its products as less hazardous than cigarettes, but it doesn't want to give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration the authority to protect consumers by verifying these claims and regulating how tobacco products are made and marketed.

Without FDA regulation of tobacco products and the resulting oversight, granting USSTC's request would only increase the harm resulting from tobacco use by causing fewer smokers to quit altogether and luring more kids into smokeless tobacco use and addiction.

USSTC has a long and continuing history of marketing in ways effective at attracting kids. Today, nearly one in ten high school boys use smokeless tobacco, and in some states it is more than one in four. These numbers could skyrocket if USSTC is allowed to implement its new strategy.

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