By DIANE COCHRAN Of The Gazette Staff

Rodeos should refuse sponsorships or donations from smokeless or "spit" tobacco companies because they send a dangerous message to the sport's youngest fans, a national health educator says.

"Most of those agreements allow (tobacco companies) to give away samples," said Ted Hallisey, who spoke in a dozen Billings-area schools earlier this week and goes by the stage name "Cowboy Ted."

"They actually give you a can of the product," Hallisey said. "Once you're done with that free sample, you're going to go buy it. You're looking at $5 a can for the rest of your life."

He said it's a good deal for tobacco companies, which usually give less than $5,000 to local rodeos such as the Northern International Livestock Exposition in Billings.

"It's not a significant amount of money," said Hallisey, who has a master's degree in health education.

But companies get a lot of mileage out of those small contributions through exposure to thousands of potential customers, he said.

Hallisey asked the NILE rodeo to give up its spit tobacco sponsorship, but the organization did not respond to his request.

U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co., maker of Copenhagen, Skoal and other chewing tobaccos, operates a free-sample booth inside MetraPark Arena during the NILE, said NILE general manager Joyce Laughery.

In exchange, U.S. Smokeless, which also sponsors the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association on a national level, pays for the NILE rodeo's instant replay scoreboard.

"They are one of our good, supportive sponsors," Laughery said. "I don't feel comfortable releasing any amounts."

Laughery said the sample booth's staff is diligent about checking identification to ensure no one younger than 18 is allowed inside.

She said she does not think it is inappropriate for tobacco companies to sponsor rodeo events.

"The NILE is certainly in favor of healthy lifestyles," she said. "But we really respect personal preference. It's personal preference, and it's an adult decision."

Dr. Doug Moore, chief medical officer for the Yellowstone City-County Health Department, said he was shocked to learn that smokeless tobacco companies can give away free samples.

He opposes the practice and said the health department plans to investigate ways to stop it from happening here. The city of Pendleton, Ore., passed an ordinance that outlaws sampling.

"It encourages the use of a substance we think is harmful," Moore said. "It's a harmful, addictive substance."

Moore also said sampling provides opportunities for children to access tobacco.

In a 2003 survey of Montana high school students, the most recent year for which statistics are available, 20 percent of boys and 5 percent of girls reported using spit tobacco at least once during the past month, said Katie Mayer, a preventive health specialist at the Health Department.

About 13 percent of adults in Montana regularly use smokeless tobacco, Mayer said.

"We have the second-highest rate in the nation behind Wyoming," she said.

Montana's somewhat controversial Clean Indoor Air Act, which went into effect Oct. 1, outlawed the use of all tobacco products in public places, but most of the debate has centered on banning cigarettes, not chew.

"We are just now starting to talk about spit tobacco. So much attention is being focused on smoking and secondhand smoke," Mayer said. "It (chew) has kind of been marketed as an alternative to smoking. You see lots of ads geared toward, 'If you can't enjoy a cigarette, at least you can still enjoy spit tobacco inside.' "

Using smokeless tobacco is as risky to a person's health as smoking. It causes multiple cancers, including cancer of the mouth, gums, larynx and salivary glands.

It is not a safe alternative to smoking, Mayer said.

Hallisey, who operates Cowboy Ted's Kids Foundation out of West Jordan, Utah, quit chewing in 1999, when he was a Salt Lake City radio personality. The former rodeo rider gave up a chance to be a spokesman for U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co.'s newest product - Rooster - to become an anti-chew advocate.

His goal is to see the PRCA sever its ties with spit tobacco.

"What's it going to take for rodeo to say, 'We're killing our own?'" he asked.

Diane Cochran can be reached at 657-1287 or dccohran@billingsgazette.com.

Published on Friday, October 14, 2005.
Last modified on 10/14/2005 at 12:15 am