This Saturday is “World No Tobacco Day” and to mark the occasion the Kelsey Trail Health Region’s “Chew On This” tour is visiting the North East School Division.
The tour focuses on the harm associated with chewing tobacco.
Audrey Parker, an addictions counsellor with the health region, says the tour was such a success last year they decide to expand it:
“A few years back we had one “Chew On This” presentation done at Rose Valley School. It went over quite well so we decided we wanted to have this in the Kelsey Trail Region and available to all students.”
Students from Melfort, Hudson Bay and Nipawin are taking part in the tour this week. The tour features a panel of experts including nurse practitioners, dental health educators, addictions counselors and public health inspectors. It will gives students the opportunity to get the hard facts about chewing tobacco.
Parker says the tobacco industry is coming up with more clever ways to get teens addicted to chewing tobacco:
“It comes in so many different flavours that are geared toward youth — like fruit flavours, candy flavours. And tobacco companies are putting these flavours in to get the youth to pick up on this.”
The Tobacco Reduction Working Group’s goal is to prevent youth from engaging in addictive behavior.