Smokeless tobacco common with male smokers

ATLANTA, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Smokers who try substitute smokeless tobacco for cigarettes may be less likely to quit tobacco altogether, U.S. health officials say.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report assessed tobacco use in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Guam -- and found smoking rates in U.S. states and territories ranged from 6.4 percent in the U.S. Virgin Islands to 25.6 percent in Kentucky and West Virginia.

Smokeless tobacco use ranged from 0.8 percent in the U.S. Virgin Islands to 9.1 percent in Wyoming, while the percent of smokers who also use smokeless tobacco ranged from 0.9 percent in Puerto Rico to 13.7 percent in Wyoming.

However, among adult male smokers, 23.4 percent in Wyoming and 20.8 percent in Arkansas reported smokeless tobacco use, the report said.

"Smokeless tobacco use is predominantly a problem among men, young adults, those with a high school education or less, and in some states with higher smoking prevalence," the report said. "The safest course of action for smokers is to quit smoking altogether, not to substitute one tobacco product for another."

The report was published Thursday in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.