Alabama launches chewing tobacco crackdown week

Photo by James L. Yates April 25, 2004-- Bill Felder, center, takes a wad of chewing tobacco immediately after he and pilot Williamson D. "Bill" Parrott, left, Curtis Beard, right, and other companions from Louisiana arrived at the Talladega Airport on April 25. "We used to drive but then we had the opportunity to fly and now it's the way to go," Felder said.

Alabama's health department announces a week-long campaign to reduce chewing tobacco use and raise awareness for its negative health effects.

A health department statement on Friday says "Through With Chew Week" will run from Feb. 18-24.

The statement says chewing tobacco is just as addictive and health hazardous as cigarettes. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that chewing tobacco contains at least 28 chemicals that cause cancer.

A 2016 statewide survey reported that 8 percent of adult Alabamians and 9 percent of teens had used chewing tobacco in the last 30 days. White male high schoolers used the most.

The campaign will run a coaching services hotline, 1-800-Quit-Now (784-8669), weekly from 6 a.m. to midnight. It's also offering up to eight weeks of free nicotine patches.

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