Mayo Clinic's Nicotine Dependence Center Collaborating to Decrease Tobacco Use

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Advancing Understanding and Building Collaboration is the theme of the third annual Spit Tobacco Summit, Oct. 16-17, sponsored by Mayo Clinic. A post-conference workshop on Oct. 18 offers a chance to discuss the various options available for treating smokeless tobacco dependence.

"Not enough attention has been paid by the medical, dental and the tobacco control communities to the use of smokeless tobacco," says Jon Ebbert, M.D., researcher and physician in Mayo Clinic's Nicotine Dependence Center (opens in new window) and director of the summit. "There are consequences associated with its long-term use. We hope to bring more understanding of the issues surrounding smokeless tobacco use and how to intervene to help users overcome their dependence."

Smokeless tobacco in the United States includes moist snuff and chewing tobacco. According to recent data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, an estimated 7.1 million individuals in the United States report past-month use of smokeless tobacco. Use is most prevalent in the Native American and Alaska Native communities.

Faculty for the event includes national and international experts, who will review current topics in smokeless tobacco research, cutting-edge treatments, and ways to prevent individuals from starting to use these products. Experts will discuss health risks associated with use of smokeless tobacco, and describe the reasons for differences seen in usage rates around the world, along with ways to combat usage at the community level. The creation and nurturing of partnerships and collaborations in the Native American and Alaska Native communities will also be explored.

This program emphasis is part of a larger Mayo Clinic effort to address health disparities among the Native American and Alaska Native peoples, and to find ways to develop tribal-based comprehensive cancer control programs. The program is sponsored, in part, by Mayo Clinic's Spirit of Eagles program, which assists Native American and Alaska Native populations in their efforts to increase community cancer awareness, provide training in cancer control research, and improve native community channels to the National Cancer Institute. Other sponsors are Wyoming's Through With Chew, the National Cancer Institute, the American Legacy Foundation and Wyoming Department of Health, Substance Abuse Division.

More information about the Native American and Alaska Native initiatives at Mayo can be found online (opens in new window). Find out more information online about educational events offered by the Nicotine Dependence Center.

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