Students Hear Straight Talk Stories Of Tobacco, Drug Addictions Serve As A Vivid Education
Above his mustache and below his neck, Rick Bender looks every inch the Montana cowboy. His scarred and shrunken jawline are grim keepsakes of a skirmish with death.
Oral cancer, caused by a 14-year addiction to what he calls “spit tobacco,” almost killed him. He surrendered half his jaw and one-third of his tongue to the surgeon.
“I can’t even lick my lips,” Bender told 400 teenagers at the Greater Spokane Substance Abuse Council’s annual anti-drug conference Friday at the downtown Masonic Temple. “I shouldn’t even be able to speak.”
Bender, 33, travels the country talking to children, teenagers and baseball players about the dangers of chewing tobacco and snuff.
“How many of you know somebody using this stuff?” he asked, holding a can of Copenhagen in the air. Almost all the young people raised their hands.
During the all-day conference, the teenagers watched skits, signed pledges to abstain from drugs and caught candy thrown by Santa. The event was planned by 25 young people from the council’s teen advisory board.
During a break, some teenagers talked about how deeply drugs and alcohol permeate their world.
“Drinking and pot are a major problem,” said Jessica Hall, 18, a senior at Riverside High School, north of Spokane. “People think that since we’re out in the country it’s not a problem, but it is.”
Private schools aren’t immune, said John Moore, 15, a freshman at Gonzaga Preparatory School.
“At my school there are lots of (drinking) parties. I was surprised.”
Teenagers from Lakeside High School in the Nine Mile Falls School District talked about a voluntary urine testing program they are organizing through Washington Drug Free Youth.
Testing will begin in January if the school board has no objections, said counselor Katherine Currie.
Students who pass the test will get discounts at businesses and take part in ski trips and other activities. Area hospitals will donate lab time.
“There’s no pressure. It’s all voluntary,” said Brettnie Wheeler, 17, a Lakeside senior. “This is something to reward them.”
So far, about 40 students at the 640-student school have signed up for the testing.
After showing slides of the gums and lips of snuff users, Bender encouraged the teenagers to warn their friends who dip and chew.
The number of young people using smokeless tobacco increased 300 percent over the last five years, he said.
“Try to convince them to quit. If you can’t and they get a sore in their mouths, or even heartburn or a sore throat and it doesn’t heal up in 10 days, tell them to get right down to a dentist or a doctor.
“The thing is to catch this cancer early before it kills you.”
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