(Dec. 3, 2000) — The University of Kentucky baseball team will be addressed regarding the dangers of using spit tobacco products by the National Spit Tobacco Education Program (NSTEP) on Tuesday, December 5, at 3:30 p.m. at the Nutter Training Facility.

Doug Harvey, one of Major League Baseball’s all-time great umpires, who was initially scheduled as the keynote speaker, will not be able to attend due to illness. However, a video presentation of Mr. Harvey has been prepared to discuss the dangers of spit tobacco and his personal battle against throat cancer, caused by his years of spit tobacco use.

Following the presentation, Dr. John Green and Dr. Margaret Walsh will be on hand to conduct oral exams and cessation counseling for any players who seek assistance in their battle to stop the use of this highly addictive and potentially deadly substance.

Dr. Green is the former Deputy Surgeon General of the United States and Dean Emeritus of the University of California San Francisco School of Dentistry. Dr. Walsh is a Professor in the Department of Preventive and Restorative Dental Sciences at the University of California San Francisco School of Dentistry.

Funded in part by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Oral Health America’s NSTEP began in 1994 as an effort to educate the baseball family and the American public to the dangers of smokeless – or spit – tobacco, and break the long-standing link between this potentially deadly drug and America’s pastime. The campaign currently works in partnership with Major League Baseball, the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) and the Professional Baseball Athletic Trainers Society (PBATS). Most recently, NSTEP is reaching out to local communities through Minor League Baseball to spread its message of “smokeless does not mean harmless.”