Lots of chew but no education

Meghan Murphy
June 22, 2007

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At the Greeley Independence Stampede this weekend, thousands of people will have the opportunity to take home a free can of chew, but none of them will learn about the dangers of such a choice.

After organizing a picnic for Get Real teens and making plans to distribute educational information outside Stampede gates, Weld County Health Department tobacco program employees halted their efforts Wednesday.

Weld County commissioner Dave Long said he expressed concerns about those plans to the health department.

"The county's role is providing education and awareness, but not to organize something that would have a negative impact on the community," he said.

Employees asked Stampede officials more than a year ago not to allow tobacco sampling at the event. U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company sets up a trailer each year where adults older than 18 can receive free cans of chew. Last year, people were seen leaving the trailer with up to three cans, said Weld Health Educator Jody Kugler.

Kugler said the employees and the Tobacco Free Weld County Coalition don't oppose the Stampede, but they feel the sponsor's samples are a way to hook new customers on nicotine, especially youths 18-24. The coalition wants to counter the impact of the tobacco sponsorship with information on addiction and diseases linked to tobacco.

"This is a young person's problem," Kugler said. "That's why this issue is of concern to us. It does affect our youth."

County tobacco program director Joe Fleming said there's a fear that if sampling was banned from the Stampede, the economically-important event would lose a major sponsor. The tobacco sampling trailer is part of the company's sponsorship agreement with Stampede, U.S. Smokeless Tobacco spokesman Andrew Lee said. In exchange for allowing the company to promote its products, which include Skoal and Copenhagen, the Stampede receives a rodeo scoreboard and personnel to run it.

In a letter to the Tobacco Coalition, Stampede CEO Lynn Settje estimated that renting the equipment would cost between $60,000 and $80,000; buying a new scoreboard would cost about $700,000, he said.

Coalition members believe that U.S. Smokeless may still sponsor the Stampede, even if they couldn't offer samples. While tobacco company official prefers events where sampling is allowed, the company does sponsor those where laws ban the distribution of chew, Lee said.

To the Stampede committee, though, it's not a matter of money; it's a matter of choice. Settje said the Stampede committee hasn't talked to the sponsor about sampling and doesn't see a reason to. While Settje doesn't use tobacco himself, he said using the product should be the adult consumer's choice.

"I personally do not support it (tobacco use), but I also feel that an individual has a right to make a choice for themselves," he said, noting that everyone entering the booth must show an ID.

Settje said he doesn't have a problem with the coalition members handing out educational information, but to allow them inside the gates would be a violation of the sponsorship. He said the agreement doesn't allow anyone to be on the grounds that distributes a negative message toward the sponsor.

"It represents a predicament for us, to be honest with you," Settje said. "If we want to be one of top 10 rodeos, we have to abide by their rules, as well."

The coalition then decided to organize educational efforts outside of the Stampede gates, but had to stop abruptly this week.

Long said he doesn't oppose the tobacco coalition working with Stampede officials one-on-one to change the sampling policy, but he said he doesn't feel they should be leading advocacy groups in a public event.

Health department employees also talked to individual city council members about creating an ordinance banning sampling at the Stampede, but the issue never made it on the agenda. Mayor Tom Selders said he's in favor of at least discussing the issue at council.

"Personally I'm sad to see that there's any tobacco use (at Stampede). I'm concerned that there is sampling," he said.

Fleming said the city of Greeley has done a lot to stamp out smoking, but now is the time to turn its eye to other tobacco products, especially since rural communities are disparately addicted to the product.

"Sometimes in Greeley we get complacent because we do have a good ordinance," Fleming said.

Battling disparities

The ring in the back pocket of a pair of Wranglers. The ding of a spittoon. Chewing tobacco is intertwined with our cultural image of the Old West and even the modern-day rodeo.

The use of chewing tobacco is disparately higher among rural males. Nationwide, 3.6 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds use spit tobacco. In Weld, rates have been as high as 12 percent to 15 percent of the population.

While much of the focus of anti-tobacco campaigns has been on smoking, local coalitions are starting to focus on smokeless products, said Weld Health Educator Jody Kugler. The Weld Department of Health has visited rural schools to talk about the dangers of chew. They want to target towns such as New Raymer, Ault and Keenesburg to prevent teens from becoming addicted and seeing the ring in the back pocket as the normal, even glorified, cowboy lifestyle.

"What we're concerned about in Weld is that it's an overlooked population," Kugler said.

Anti-tobacco advocates also say that companies target rural teens with spit tobacco advertising campaigns. U.S. Smokeless Tobacco sponsors rodeos across the country, as well as successful cowboys, giving them lucrative contracts.

Spit tobacco facts

* Spit tobacco contains 24-cancer-causing chemicals, including formaldehyde.

* 70 percent of spit tobacco users have mouth sores.

* Spit tobacco can cause lip, tongue, mouth and throat cancer.

* One dip contains five times the nicotine of one cigarette.

* Ten dips a day equals about 30 to 40 cigarettes.