I saw a television commercial for an anti-smoking prescription drug called Chantix that set me to wondering. After extolling the benefits of Chantix, the announcer proceeded to run through a litany of potential hazards of taking the pills, including the possibility of depression and thoughts of suicide. And I wondered: Why would the Food and Drug Administration approve a drug that could cause people to consider killing themselves, especially when there are other, presumably safer, anti-smoking remedies available?

According to an Associated Press story from last year:

“Government regulators said the connection between Pfizer’s anti-smoking drug Chantix and serious psychiatric problems is ‘increasingly likely.’

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The Food and Drug Administration began in November [2007] investigating reports of depression, agitation and suicidal behavior in patients taking the popular twice-daily pill.
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The agency’s announcement comes two weeks after Pfizer added stronger warnings to the drug. In doing so, the company stressed that a direct link between Chantix and the reported psychiatric problems has not been established, but could not be ruled out.”

I am an ex-smoker who stopped smoking a pack of cigarettes a day more than 20 years ago. Personally, I found two methods to stop the habit. One was to stop cold turkey when I had a heavy cold. When you’re suffering from coughing, sneezing, sore throat, etc., the urge to smoke drops sharply. With cold and flu season approaching, this might be something to keep in mind.

The other method, and the one that I used successfully, was to stop smoking when I entered a hospital for surgery. During the one week in the hospital and three weeks of recuperation, I had no access to cigarettes, and after a month, I no longer had the urge to smoke — and I haven’t ever since.

So you ex-smokers out there, I’m curious: What method do you recommend for quitting the smoking habit?

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Did I get your attention?

Good. The Bowie Baysox are offering a promotion next Wednesday, August 27, where you can watch the likes of baseball players Matt Wieters and Brad Bergeson for free.

In order to ensure Marylanders are aware of the dangers of secondhand smoke, the Baysox club is partnering with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to offer a free night at the yard.

All you have to do to enter for free is print out and sign a smoke-free pledge. The signed pledge can be redeemed for two adult general admission tickets.

Interestingly, the promotion comes a night after Belly Buster Tuesday where any lower reserve ticket gets you a free foot-long hot dog, popcorn and peanuts.

And after reading Liz Farmer’s minor league baseball article on Friday and seeing this audio slideshow, who wouldn’t want to go to a minor league game for free?

RICHARD SIMON, Multimedia Reporter

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It’s a toss-up which is more distasteful — blowing cigarette smoke in the faces of your friends and loved ones or spitting tobacco juice profusely in their presence.

But a new study has found one might be more dangerous for you than the other.

A report published this month by the American Association for Cancer Research has some frightening findings for users of the smokeless tobacco known as snuff, a powdered variation of chewing tobacco tucked just behind the lip.

The study at the University of Minnesota Cancer Center found that snuff delivers to its user even higher levels of cancer-causing chemicals than cigarettes.

Compared to smokers, the snuff users in the study were receiving more of the carcinogenic molecules known as nitrosamines, known to cause lung cancer, pancreatic cancer, cancer of the nose and liver.

Westminster construction worker John Schneehagen, 45, learned first-hand the dangers of smokeless tobacco.

Several years ago, after two decades of using smokeless tobacco, Schneehagen noticed a bump on his tongue. He elected to ignore it for a few years.

By the time he encountered Dr. John Saunders Jr., a surgeon at Greater Baltimore Medical Center and medical director of Greater Baltimore Head & Neck Associates, Schneehagen required surgery to remove the tumor on his tongue and the lymph nodes in his neck where the cancer had spread.

Schneehagen, who has been cancer free for 2.5 years, describes himself as “lucky.” “The worst thing that happened was I lost part of my tongue, but I’ve gotten used to that,” he said in a news release from GBMC.

More than 55,000 Americans will be diagnosed with head and neck cancer this year, and the disease will kill 13,000, according to the American Academy of Otolarygology — Head and Neck Surgery.

Do you or people you know use smokeless tobacco? How dangerous do you think it is? Should it be regulated more stringently? Tell us what you think.

-KAREN BUCKELEW, Daily Record Business Writer

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