Chewing tobacco use heavy in Alaska

In western Alaska, 52 per cent of people use chewing tobacco.

Chewing tobacco often takes the form of iqmik, tobacco leaves mixed with ash, usually from a birch tree fungus. The ash speeds nicotine to the brain.

Iqmik can cause sores and white patches in the mouth that may turn into cancer. Growths can also appear on the tongue, changing the color to yellow, green, brown or black.

In the community of Tuluksak, 80 percent to 90 percent of the villagers use iqmik, including many four- and five-year-olds.

The Anchorage Daily News reports a new study has found that the use of tobacco, especially iqmik, remains socially acceptable on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and that there are few perceived health effects.

In fact, iqmik is viewed as a natural product, less harmful than other types of tobacco, researchers discovered, and women who smoke may switch to iqmik if they become pregnant. That could explain a finding from a separate study that more than half of pregnant women in western Alaska use chewing tobacco, but just 16 percent smoke.