Football star Troy Aikman is helping in the campaign against youthful tobacco abuse.
It's bad enough to see "adult" athletes with "just a pinch (of tobacco or snuff) between the cheek and gums" but it's even more sickening to observe teen-agers emulating these foolish individuals.
All forms of tobacco are used in a wide variety of ways by athletes at all levels, including wrapping it in bubble gum wads, and the prospects for trouble are present in all the situations.
Thus it is encouraging to see somebody like Dallas Cowboys football quarterback Troy Aikman taking a strong public stand against tobacco use -- which can lead to cancer.
Aikman is featured in a series of public service spots and posters as part of a don't-be-like-me campaign against chewing tobacco.
"I know what kids go through, the peer pressure they face with not just tobacco but drugs and alcohol," the gridiron superstar told the Dallas Morning News. He gave up his chewing habit after the 1997 Super Bowl when he got letters from concerned fans and recognized how negatively his behavior could affect youngsters.
Aikman says he started chewing at the age of 15 and continued through high school and then college at Oklahoma and UCLA. He made his college debut against Kansas in the middle 1980s. Aikman and the Morning News note that some 12 percent of Texas middle school boys (about one in eight) now chew tobacco, which often leads to cancer in the mouth and gum areas. You can imagine the percentage of high schoolers.
The problem is shocking but is by no means unique to Texas and its athletes. Youths all over the nation are "trying" tobacco beyond the cigarette, cigar and pipe categories and are finding it quite addictive. They do not seem to realize how dangerous it is.
The advice from Troy Aikman: Kick the habit-forming stuff, as soon as possible, or you may pay a terrible price down the line. Let's hope the ranks of those giving anti-tobacco testimonials continue to grow -- and that they get the attention of youngsters who are smart enough to change their ways.
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