Packaging camouflages tobacco
That box that looks like chewing gum on your child's dresser may not contain gum at all. It might contain nicotine.
To curb use of such products by children, the Butler County Drug and Alcohol Program has developed an educational program on how new smokeless tobacco products can easily be mistaken for other things.
Beth Neveux, a prevention specialist with the county drug and alcohol agency, said this is the first such program in Butler County. Before this, programs focused on cigarettes.
One goal for the program is to educate parents and schools about some of the newer tobacco and nicotine products on the market, many of which look like other products at first glance.
From a backpack, Neveux pulls out various tobacco products and compares the packaging to non-tobacco products.
“I don't think a lot of people know that these are out there,” Neveux said.
She shows products like NicLite, water infused with nicotine, and Nico Gel, a gel that can be rubbed into hands like hand sanitizer.
Other products that concern Neveux contained more nicotine than cigarettes, such as chewing tobacco, which contains eight times as much nicotine as cigarettes.
“That's a heck of a lot of nicotine going into your system,” Neveux said.
She said there also is a type of chewing tobacco with caffeine.
“This is doubly stimulating,” she added.
Another problem with some of the newer products, she said, is that they can be purchased online and without age verification, making it easier for underage people to use them.
A second goal of the program is to educate legislators so they increase funding for similar programs.
The 1998 Tobacco Master Settlement agreement and Act 77 of 2001 brought the money to fund smoking prevention programs.
Companies initially gave 12 percent of their profits, which was lowered to 9 percent in 2005 and again lowered to 4.5 percent in 2008.
Neveux said before the funding was cut she had seen the number of students using tobacco drop to the lowest it has been in history.
“Obviously, it's starting to increase again due to lack of funding,” Neveux said.
She already has done a few presentations and said she feels that it will be successful.
“I think it was very well received. I think it was a real eye opener,” Neveux said.
