Oregon Research Group Wants Spokane To Snuff Out A Bad Habit

An Oregon research group wants to help people stop chewing tobacco.

Or sniffing it, spitting it or even sticking a pinch between the cheek and gum.

Spokane is the pilot city for a program to fight smokeless tobacco addiction.

The program eventually will be offered in all of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Alaska.

“People who use chewing tobacco and snuff are addicted to nicotine,” said Dr. Herb Severson, a scientist with the Oregon Research Institute, a nonprofit group based in Eugene. “Smokers have been offered all kinds of assistance, and chewers haven’t gotten help.”

About 95 percent of people who quit using tobacco quit on their own. This program aims to help people who already want to quit.

Researchers picked Spokane because it’s isolated and because it has a high rate of people using smokeless tobacco.

About one in 10 men use snuff or chewing tobacco in Eastern Washington, Severson said. That compares with a state rate of about one in 14 men.

The program will be tested in Spokane over 15 months.

The center is looking for up to 1,100 volunteers, who will be divided into two groups.

One group will receive a step-by-step booklet called “Enough Snuff” to help them stop using tobacco. The other group will receive the booklet, a motivational video and two support phone calls within the first two weeks of getting the booklet.

No group meetings or office visits are required.

The study, being sponsored by the National Cancer Institute, doesn’t cost anything.

Researchers will track the study group and determine which method has a better success rate.

Another group of about 1,000 is being followed in a separate study to try to determine a natural quitting rate, Severson said.

Smokeless tobacco can lead to mouth cancer, other cancers, heart disease, gum disease, cavities and other disorders.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: Volunteers The center is looking for up to 1,100 volunteers. For more information or to enroll in the study, call the Oregon Research Institute at 1-800-574-7111.