Dear Editor:
Students from Carrollton High School have just finished coming into our classroom to teach us about the harmful and addictive effects of tobacco and nicotine - containing products, especially smokeless tobacco.
These high school students are mentors from Stay Tobacco-Free Athlete Mentor Program (STAMP) sponsored by the American Cancer Society. We have learned that most teens do not smoke and tobacco companies try very hard to convince us that smoking is safe.
Any kind of tobacco can harm you, smokeless or not. When you read this you will probably think, “whatever I’ve heard this talk like a thousand times,” so I’m going to do my best to try to persuade you to quit or never pick up any tobacco products.
You could pay for two semesters of a child’s college in the amount of time you could buy a pack of cigarettes every day for five years. If you think about it that’s a lot of money.
In one can of chew, there is 60 cigarettes worth of nicotine, so don’t think chew is any better for you than cigarettes. Any tobacco products are liable to cause cancer. Think about your family on this one. How would they feel if you were diagnosed with cancer?
I may not be the smartest, but I know that tobacco is bad for you and is hard to get off when you’re hooked. Think about it, quitting or never getting hooked just might save your life.
Hunter Johnston
(Student in Mrs. Shroyer’s 7th grade class
at Bell-Herron Middle School)
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