European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 18, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                By Ray Formanek or. Associated press when 17-year-old Todd Dit Man must lose weight before a wrestling match he puts wads of snuff Between his Cheek and gum Quot it s a Good substitute when you can t eat because you re trying to make your weight Quot said Dittman of Blacksville w.va., a senior at Clay Battelle High school i Don t think it hurts me at All. But i Haven t been using it that Long. Ill quit before i get  a classmate senior Shawn Tennant. 17. Said he a rubs smokeless tobacco to relax. Quot i use in whenever i get nervous or anxious about something. It calms me Down a Tennant said. Quot some people have a Candy bar. I rub  the use of chewing tobacco snuff and other smokeless tobacco products among America s teenagers has been increasing at an alarming rate in recent years said Eibert d. Glover a professor of psychiatry and behavioural Medicine at West Virginia University. Gary Smith principal at Clay Battelle estimated that 40 percent of the boys enrolled in grades seven through 12 at the school use smokeless tobacco Dittman and Tennant estimated that 80 percent of the senior boys at the school Chew tobacco or dip snuff. Glover director of the school s tobacco research Center and a leading health researcher or the product said receding Gums and White leathery patches inside the Cheeks of Many Young tobacco chewers Are the first inklings of a Mouth cancer epidemic within the next 15 years Quot we Don t have a lot of problems yet but it takes about 25 years of tobacco use for cancer to Manifest Quot Glover said. Quot my estimate is that Between 2000 and 2005, Mouth cancer is going to take off if we Don t do something about smokeless tobacco use right  an estimated 12 million americans regularly use snuff twist plug and other types of smokeless tobacco Glover said. It is chewed sucked or in a finely ground form inhaled into the nostrils. Such usage disturbs Betty Marsee of Reading Ohio her son Sean was in his senior year in High school in Talihina okla., when he died of Mouth cancer that his doctors attributed to snuff. Quot he thought it was just a canker sore Quot Marsee said in a Telephone interview from her Home near Cincinnati. Quot i m a registered nurse and i know it Wasny to a canker sore. A head and neck surgeon told him the next Day that it was cancer Quot Sean died in february 1984, nine months after doctors diagnosed his cancer and removed much of his Tongue Cheeks Lymph glands facial nerves and arteries and allot his right jaw Quot i done to think he Ever tried to quit Quot said Marsee 55, who now Speaks to aboutr9,000 schoolchildren each year about the dangers of smokeless tobacco Quot my husband had died the year before from heart problems related to smoking so Sean never smoked Quot she said. Quot but in you live in Oklahoma you know that 75 percent of the kids in school use smokeless tobacco kids think they re going to live forever unless they have someone they can relate it to they done to listen when you Tell them they can get sick and die of cancer if they readers action Lin sponsors must Fly with dependents on space a a Why Aren t dependents allowed to try overseas on mac7 i can understand having this restriction in the slates but stateside there Are several less expensive options available such As trains buses Etc in trying to have my wife join me for Christmas i was told unless she were transferring she could not Fly space available it is not always possible or feasible to Lake your dependents with you when you Transfer there Are financial responsibilities or children in school that you Don t wish to disrupt which in some cases Means a later Transfer but there Are also holidays and vacations that give use the  West Virginia ranked first in smokeless tobacco use in a 1988 Federal Survey of the health Behaviours of people living in 36 states and the District of Columbia. About 20 percent of adult men living in West Virginia reported using some form of smokeless tobacco according to the study. One third of the men living in one isolated county reported using it. More than 30 percent of the users were Between Ages 18 and 24, according to the Survey. Quot no one even comes close to West Virginia in terms of smokeless tobacco use Quot Glover said. The cancer risk makes the High rate of smokeless tobacco use by children especially disturbing to Glover. About 16 percent of 4,230 randomly selected West Virginia students in grades five through 12 reported chewing tobacco in a 1989 study conducted by the state department of education. Among the boys in the study 29 percent of the seventh eighth and ninth graders and 39 percent of the 10th-, 11th and 12th-graders said they were regular users. About 1 percent of the girls in each group said they had tried a Pinch Between their Cheek and gum. The study also found the mean age for trying smokeless tobacco was 10. More than half reported that they were regular users by the time they reached 11. In a 1988 National Survay of College students. 22 percent of the males and 2 percent of females reported that they had used smokeless tobacco in the previous month. We be seen tons of problems in younger people especially in this area a said or. Kathleen Schroeder an Oral biology researcher and associate director of West Virginia University a a tobacco Center. Quot we be even seen preschoolers whose parents have put a Little bit of snuff in their Mouth to suck on Quot she says. Quot it s considered a Folk remedy for teething it numbs the  Glover says smokeless tobacco use causes stained Teeth bad breath tooth sensitivity cavities and gum them time to visit. It is very expensive to Fly them commercial and it is not always possible for the sponsor to travel to the United states. Could you please explain this policy and any Steps that could be taken to have this policy changed i know that there Are Many service people who would like this information Robert a. Schofield Rota Spain be maj. Stephen  Knechtel chief Public affairs he 435th tac Airlift Wing Mac replies thank you for your recent inquiry into the Mac space available program. Although we would like to authorize our dependents to travel space available without being accompanied by sponsor the Dod regulation 4515.13r strictly forbids it. It specifically states that to Fly space available dependents must be accompanied by the sponsor who is travelling m Ordinary leave status changes to door 4515 13r must be fully coordinated recession. Other consequences include tooth loss addiction irritation of the Mouth and Tongue tissue and cancer. Research has shown that snuff or chewing tobacco delivers 10 times More cancer causing substances to the bloodstream than cigarettes Glover said. And an average Pinch of snuff or chewing tobacco pumps three times More nicotine into the body through the lining of the Mouth than the average cigarette delivers through the lungs according to Glover. The nicotine Jolt speeds the heartbeat raises blood pressure and contributes to heart disease and arteriosclerosis researchers say. Mark Mchale a spokesman for the smokeless tobacco Council a Trade group based in Washington d c., challenged Glover s findings saying they had not been proved. Quot the Only response the Council has to make is that smokeless tobacco has not been scientifically established to cause any disease whatsoever including Oral cancer Quot Mchale said. The Council represents snuff and chewing tobacco manufacturers including Brown and Williamson corp., conwood co., l.p., Helme tobacco co., National tobacco co., the Pinkerton tobacco co. And . Tobacco co a 1986 report on smokeless tobacco by former surgeon general  Everett Koop found that the substance caused cancer and was highly addictive. An Independent review of Koopus report by the Institute of Medicine a private group of physicians based in Washington d.c., reached the same conclusions. Quot the evidence on smokeless tobacco is solid Quot said Jack e. Henningfield chief of clinical pharmacology research at the National Institute of drug abuse in Baltimore about 30,000 new cases of Mouth cancer were reported last year in the United states according to Louis Sullivan Secretary of the Federal department of health and human resources. Only 51 percent of Mouth cancer patients survive five years Sullivan said. A Federal Trade commission report to Congress last year indicated that smokeless tobacco sales in this country increased to 116.4 million pounds 2 million pounds More than the total sold in 1988, smokeless tobacco sales soared in the e late 1960s and Early 1970s after the serious health consequences of smoking cigarettes became widely accepted Glover says. Advertisements featuring major league ballplayers professional football players and Rodeo stars boosted sales through the mid-1980s. Smokeless sales were Down in 1986 and 1987, after the government tightened controls on smokeless tobacco advertising and required that health warnings be put on packages. But the Industry has rebounded and registered annual increases since 1988, Glover said school officials in West Virginia and other states amp re using pamphlets presentations suspensions and even paddling to persuade their students to quit using snuff and other tobacco products. A new West Virginia Law which went into effect Jan. 1 prohibits tobacco use by anyone on school property including administrators teachers and coaches. Through your service channels and be approved prior to implementation. If you wish to further pursue this a Good place to Start is at the entitlements Section of your local personnel  write us readers action line is the readers Quot court of last resort Quot striving to answer some of the questions about life overseas in a military environment or questions about policies and guidelines when other avenues for answers Are not readily available. If you have a question and Don t know where to turn for the answer write to readers action line co the stars and stripes. Unit 29480, Apo a 09211 All letters must be signed and preference will be Given to those seeking information of general interest to our readers Page 16 a the stars and stripes tuesday february 18, 1992