Protect Kids by Knocking Tobacco Out of the Park
- Jun 1, 2011 - 2 -
Dear Friends:
The crack of the bat, the crunch of peanuts, the camaraderie of the seventh inning stretch—all of these have been part of American family life for decades. But so is the sight of big league ballplayers popping wads of smokeless tobacco into their mouths, chewing on it with vigor, and spitting out streams of brown gunk—all on camera, before millions of fans.
The glamorization of deadly tobacco use must stop.
We know that smokeless tobacco use causes cancer, several serious mouth diseases and increases the risk of heart disease. We also know that as cigarette sales have declined, the tobacco industry has stepped up its marketing of smokeless tobacco, targeting much of this advertising at our kids. And it’s having an effect: smokeless tobacco use by high school boys has climbed 36 percent since 2003!
Just this week, I signed onto a letter to the MLBPA with 24 other national faith leaders, calling on the players and their union to set the right example for kids. In our letter to the union, we tell the story of Sean Marsee, a top high school track star in Oklahoma, who became addicted to smokeless tobacco at age 12 and was dead at 19 after a terrible year of surgeries that took his tongue, jaw and much of his neck muscle. Sean argued with his mother, a nurse, for years that all of these sports stars used the product and that if they were fine, he would be too. Just months before he died, Sean was honored as his school’s most outstanding athlete.
We don’t want Sean’s story to be repeated for any more kids, in any more families.
Our coalition of faith leaders joins 10 major public health and medical organizations, top health officials in MLB cities, and baseball insiders like former Mets manager Bobby Valentine and MLB Commissioner Bud Selig in the effort to Knock Tobacco Out of the Park. We hope we can count on you to join the campaign by taking action today.
In His Service,
Dr. Richard Land
President
The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission
Southern Baptist Convention
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1 On Jun 2nd, 2011, at 6:46pm, Brad O'Brien wrote:
Much needed. Thank you and all the others who are lined up on the right side of this deadly addiction.
2 On Jun 6th, 2011, at 11:39pm, Ed Nelson wrote:
TOBACCO::: Is Congress still subsidizing tobacco farmers? If so,why is the “fiscally responsible” Republican Congress doing so?