SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO AM) -The Food and Drug Administration says every day nearly a thousand males under the age of 18 in America use smokeless tobacco for the first time.
The FDA says that's almost as many male teenagers who smoke their first cigarette. The FDA says it makes early intervention critical and emphasizes the need for targeting prevention.
Director of the F-D-A's Center for Tobacco Products Mitch Zeller says between 2008 and 2010, smokeless use rates increased by 31 percent among high school seniors.
Zeller says kids see their dads, their grandfathers and community leaders using smokeless tobacco, using the dip or the chew throughout their lifetime, and they think that its okay.
The F-D-A is expanding its award-winning "The Real Cost" campaign to educate rural, male teenagers about smokeless tobacco's negative health impacts.