Smokeless tobacco dangers

CHICAGO, Illinois—Oral Health America has teamed up with Chicago White Sox pitcher John Danks to film a public service announcement about the dangers of smokeless tobacco for OHA’s National Spit Tobacco Education Program.

“One of the most memorable wins I’ve recorded was when I decided to quit tobacco," Danks said in the PSA. "Quitting was hard, but one of the best decisions I could have made for my health, my family and my career.”

Danks quit chewing tobacco after beginning to experience health problems ,and is now committed to sharing his experience with children to help prevent tobacco use and to encourage users to quit. The PSA can be viewed at Danks.

The PSA will air on ESPN Aug. 20-29, 2010, during the Little League World Series, and on in-game screens at the stadium for the series. It will also be available on the OHA and White Sox Web sites.

The White Sox are supporting NSTEP through a generous donation of tickets for OHA program participants, and by working with NSTEP to share Danks’ message through PSAs and podcasts and in OHA educational materials.

OHA established the NSTEP program in 1994 to help reduce the use of smokeless tobacco and baseball’s association with it. NSTEP is in its ninth year of a partnership with Little League Baseball and Softball, and annually provides oral health and tobacco avoidance messaging to as many as 325,000 players and their families at the Little League World Series.

For more information, visit www.oralhealthamerica.org.

To read about smokeless tobacco risk, go to smokeless tobacco risk.

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