This video takes a candid look at what many think is the alternative to smoking. Teenagers turn each year to smokeless tobacco regardless of what parents or doctors tell them. Medical patients with smoking-related illnesses view smokeless tobacco as a way of kicking the smoking habit. This factual program looks at the influence of tobacco in America. It explores the history of “King Tobacco” and how it has survived through economic, medical, governmental, and societal responses. Like alcohol, tobacco was introduced thousands of years ago and still influences children through family, sports, advertising, and now, more than ever, peer pressure.
Interviews with users of smokeless tobacco explain why they use the product and how snuff, dip, or chew have become a part of their lives. Medical professionals look at the carcinogens in tobacco, and explain the addictive and sometimes fatal impact on the human body. Tobacco farmers and business owners explain what the product means to their livelihood and how tobacco is not a crime. Whether it is Mother Nature, government regulation, or medical surveys, tobacco is still a fact of life. 20 minutes. © 2001.
