To combat chewing tobacco use among teens, the Pennsylvania Department of Health has launched an aggressive media and online campaign -- including a MySpace profile and Youtube videos.

"We recently took the time to expand to an online presence to reach teens because we are finding out that chew use is growing among that particular age group," Yasmin Coleman, Pennsylvania Dapartment of Health director of marketing, said.

She said the campaign's target age group is teenagers ages 14 to 17. The campaign began last fall with television and radio advertisements.

Coleman said 3 percent of Pennsylvania adults and 6 percent of teens use chewing tobacco. In rural populations, use among teens is as high as 11 percent. She said there is a commonly held belief that smokeless tobacco is a better alternative to smoking cigarettes, but this misconception is dangerous.

Coleman said Department of Health research found that chewing tobacco has 28 cancer-causing agents. Chewing tobacco causesmouth sores, bleeding, receding gums, tooth decay and increased risk of heart problems and cancer. Using eight to 10 dips per day is the equivalent of smoking 30 to 40 cigarettes per day, Coleman said.

Stephen Shetler, addiction specialist with Penn State's Counseling and Psychological Services, said chewing tobacco use is not prevalent on the University Park campus. "I believe [chewing tobacco users] exist on campus, but I do not see a lot of people coming to try and quit chewing tobacco," he said.

Diana Ramos, community health educator with Penn State University Health Services, said she has not had anyone try to quit chew in her cessation programs but said being ashamed of smoking is one of the most common reasons for smokeless tobacco use among college students.

"They are still getting the nicotine jilts but there is no smoke to distract others or interfere with people around them," she said. "There is a stigma now with smokers that they do not want to live with the embarrassment of being an addicted person so they try to make it less obvious."

Coleman said expanding the campaign to the Internet will help reach more teens. "The motivation is to reach teens where they live and play today, which is online," she said.

Coleman saidcampaigns have been successful in the past, such as in Wyoming and West Virginia, where chewing tobacco use is prevalent. Shetler said several demographic factors contribute to how likely someone is to chew tobacco.

"Baseball players and other athletes seem to be more into it at some point in their lives, as well as students from rural settings where it is more done among peers," he said.

Ramos said the use of chewing tobacco is just as dangerous as smoking. "It has severe consequences to the mouth and gums, and in quicker form because it is more direct and there is no filter," she said.

Ramos said chewing tobacco delivers immediate nicotine doses because users are ingesting tobacco and receiving the same nicotine agents as cigarettes.

Penn State students can quit smokeless tobacco through the same free, year-round counseling programs as smokers, Ramos said. The Office of Health Promotion and Education offers free nicotine replacement treatments, including patches and gum, to students who register online.

"It involves a process of physiologically weaning the body off nicotine, just like with smokers," she said.

The campaign will have an account on MySpace.com and launch videos on the popular video-sharing site, Youtube.com. It also hosts its own independent Web site, whereispete.org, which targets teens with photos and interactive games. Coleman said the campaign's primary purpose is to raise awareness throughout Pennsylvania, but to motivate people to visit the Web site, whereispete.org, and to call the free quit line, 1-800-QUIT-NOW.