A Coach s Guide to Spit Tobacco Education

Transcription

1 OUTLINE Goal Coaches, players and parents will understand that spit tobacco can lead to use of cigarettes, increases the chances of experimentation with other substances and other unhealthy choices. Objectives By the end of the learning session, participants will: 1. Understand that smokeless doesn t mean harmless. 2. Recognize that spit tobacco can lead to cigarette use and experimentation with other substances. 3. Name 2 other unhealthy choices that can be related to tobacco use Coach/ Facilitator Role 1. Review the Participant Handouts and Background information and ensure you know and understand the module content before you proceed. 2. Photocopy the Participant Handouts, Activity Sheets and Evaluation Forms. 3. Provide each player a copy of the Participant Handouts and Activity Sheet(s). 4. Depending on the size of the team, you may want to split the team into 2 or more discussion groups. Have the participants review the information in the handouts and complete the Activity. If you split into groups, complete the Activity, then share answers with the large group. 5. Add additional comments and information from the Background materials as needed to ensure that complete information is covered and help to facilitate discussion. Evaluation Background Activity Participant Handouts 1. Distribute the Participant Evaluation Forms, instruct participants not to put their name or other identifying information on the evaluations and collect them after completion. 2. Complete the Coach/ Facilitator Evaluation Form. 3. Review evaluations to assess the participants learnings, behaviors. 4. Submit evaluations to CATRAC for the season as per instructions included in the Introduction. 1. It s Not Just Cigarettes Anymore 2. A Two-Headed Monster Tobacco Free Sports Team Pledge Tobacco free pledge announcement template Tobacco Free Zone Sign/ poster Media Release template Tobacco-free proclamation template 1

2 BACKGROUND It s Not Just Cigarettes Anymore While the majority of tobacco users (about 80%) smoke cigarettes, as more places ban smoking indoors, the use of smokeless or spit tobacco products is on the rise. What is Spit Tobacco? Also known as snuff or chew, smokeless or snus, spit tobacco delivers nicotine, an addictive drug, to users by absorption across the membranes of the mouth. It is a mixture of tobacco leaf, nicotine, sweeteners, abrasives, salts and over 3000 chemicals, including 28 known carcinogens. Spit tobacco products are sweetened with molasses or sugar; up to 30% of the product! Spit tobacco products are often flavored with licorice, cherry, mint or wintergreen flavors that are appealing to children. Two main forms are used in Alberta chewing tobacco and moist snuff. Chewing tobacco can be loose leaf or plug. A pinch of chewing tobacco is placed between the cheek and gum. Moist snuff is fine cut tobacco that most often now comes in a pouch that looks like a miniature tea bag and is placed in the mouth between the cheek and gum. Because the pouch is less messy it is becoming more popular among users. Moist snuff now represents 71% of the smokeless tobacco market. 1 Both moist and chewing tobacco juices are intended to be spit out of the mouth not swallowed hence the term spit tobacco. Dry snuff is inhaled through the nose and is not commonly used today. Who uses spit tobacco? Spit tobacco use appears to begin at an earlier age than experimentation with cigarettes often at age 9 or ten. 2 Fifteen percent of Albertans have tried spit tobacco. 3 Seventeen percent of year old males have tried spit tobacco. 4 Many spit tobacco users start between 10 and 16 years of age, putting them at increased risk for premature illnesses and death, often by their early 30 s. 5 Most users are athletes, aboriginals and rural males under 24 years of age. 6 Certain factors seem to be linked to whether or not young people will use tobacco. 7 They include: peer pressure local lifestyles and fashions general attitudes toward authority economic conditions examples set by adults; coaches, parents, sports heroes, teachers and school staff presence of gangs use of illegal drugs and alcohol 1. Tobacco Control 2008 Oct;17 (5): Epub 2008 Jul 31.Free nicotine content and strategic marketing of moist snuff tobacco products in the United States: Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey American Cancer Society Website; Smokeless Tobacco and How to Quit 2

3 Is spit tobacco harmful to health? Spit tobacco has over 3,000 chemicals, including 28 known carcinogens. Spit tobacco is not a safe substitute for cigarettes and can harm health in many ways. Addiction to nicotine Just say no is not enough Spit tobacco is addictive because it contains the drug nicotine. In fact, spit tobacco contains more nicotine than cigarettes do. In fact, two to three times the amount of nicotine in a cigarette. One can of spit tobacco per day delivers as much nicotine as 60 cigarettes. Spit tobacco causes Cancer of the mouth (lip, tongue, and cheek, floor and roof of the mouth) and throat. White, leathery sores called leukoplakia may develop where tobacco is held in the mouth, such as the cheeks, gums or tongue. The longer spit tobacco is used, the more likely sores will develop. These sores can turn into cancer of the mouth. The majority of these cancers are found too late, causing many people to die within five years of finding out they have cancer. Increased heart rate, higher blood pressure and irregular heartbeat. Tooth and gum disease including cavities (related to the high sugar content), lost teeth, bad breath and painful sores. Using spit tobacco can cause bone loss around teeth and create worn spots or abrasions on the tooth surface. Gums injured from the chemicals in spit tobacco will pull away from teeth, leaving them sensitive to hot and cold. This kind of damage is permanent. Constricted blood vessels (caused by the nicotine) can slow reaction time and cause dizziness. Not a good thing for athletes. SNUS Snus is a relatively new tobacco product in Canada. It also comes in a pouch that looks like a miniature tea bag, and is placed in the mouth between the cheek and gum. The juices from this product are intended to be swallowed, making snus use less obvious. In 2007, this new product was introduced in Alberta by the tobacco industry and promoted as an alternative to use when smoking isn t allowed and/or as a product to reduce the health problems caused by smoking. Snus delivers a powerful dose of nicotine: eight milligrams in each pouch, according to the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, which manufacturers new Camel Snus. A pouch amounts to a single dose. That s far more nicotine per gram than is present other popular chewing tobacco products, according to some researchers, who are concerned that Snus may turn out to be both carcinogenic and highly addictive. Evidence has shown that the average snus user holds a pouch or pinch of the product in their mouths from 3 4 hours per day! 8 Evidence shows that snus use has many of the same health consequences as other forms of spit tobacco and is not a harmless product. 3

4 BACKGROUND A Two-Headed Monster Spit tobacco users are often addicted to cigarettes as well. 9 Spit tobacco experimentation is highest among current smokers, next highest among former smokers and lowest among never smokers. 10 Evidence shows that experimentation with any form of tobacco often leads to its regular use. Of regular tobacco users, 70 90% are addicted. 11 Adolescents who use spit tobacco are also likely to become cigarette smokers. 12 Studies of 17-year-olds who were only using spit tobacco found that four years later, 40% had either added cigarettes to their use of spit tobacco or completely switched to smoking. There was almost no movement the other way; from smoking to spit tobacco use. 13 Multiplying Risks Studies have shown that youth who use tobacco products are also more likely to engage in other behaviors risky to health including: 14 Using other substances like alcohol and illicit drugs Unprotected sexual behaviors Lower levels of physical activity Poor dietary choices Among youth who report using 2 or more tobacco products, these risky behaviors are more pronounced and can include; Cocaine use Binge drinking Physical fighting Weapons possession Additionally, youth who use tobacco tend to report more depression, stress and attempts At suicide. 9 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. CDC Fact Sheet Smokeless Tobacco U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People: A Report of the Surgeon General Scott L. Tomar; Dorothy K. Hatsukami Perceived risk of harm from cigarettes or smokeless tobacco among U.S. high school seniors. Nicotine & Tobacco Research

5 PARTICIPANT ACTIVITY SHEET Topic: Commit to a Tobacco-Free Team Task: 1. Complete the Tobacco Free Sports Pledge Supporting Activities Provide a copy of the completed form to all team members Implement and enforce the pledge - Ensure parents are aware of the signed pledge and the expectation that team members will be tobacco-free. Ask for their support. Support any team members who are using tobacco to quit Make your pledge public - Announce your tobacco-free pledge at games - Post tobacco-free signs/posters at games - Do a media release - Make an announcement/ proclamation in a coaches/ sports newsletter or local newspaper - Share the news with stakeholders; CATRAC, Alberta Health Services-Addiction Services, The Canadian Cancer Society, The Lung Association, The Heart and Stroke Foundation Tobacco Free Sports pledge_sheet.pdf 5

6 Please take a moment to tell us what you thought of today s learning session on Have you learned: Something new about spit tobacco and your health? That smokeless doesn t mean harmless. That spit tobacco use can lead to cigarette use and other unhealthy choices. 2. How could we have made this session better for you? More information Less information I liked I didn t like More time Less time Other: 3. Please answer the following: a) Are you currently using spit tobacco? Yes, I am currently using spit tobacco (Even 1 pinch/ pouch in the last 2 weeks) No, I quit within the last 6 months No, I quit more than 6 months ago No, I have never used spit tobacco COACH / FACILITATOR EVALUATION 6

7 1. Were the participants able to Understand that smokeless doesn t mean harmless. Recognize that spit tobacco can lead to cigarette use and other unhealthy choices. 2. How many participants were in attendance? 3. Was the activity appropriate for the group? If not, why? 4. Did you implement the activity as outlined, or did you have to alter the plan to suit the group? If altered, what changes did you make? 7