California lawmaker seeks to ban chewing tobacco in baseball

By Sharon Bernstein SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Reuters) - Major League Baseball players would be banned from using chewing tobacco at games in California under a bill expected to be introduced in the state legislature on Tuesday, the first in a nationwide campaign planned by anti-tobacco activists. The bill targets baseball's ubiquitous habit less than a year after retired San Diego Padres outfielder Tony Gwynn died of cancer of the salivary glands, believed related to chewing tobacco or "dipping" it by lodging it between the lip and the gum. "Tony Gwynn was somebody I thought was a spokesman for baseball, a great role model as a person," said Assembly member Tony Thurmond, a Democrat who represents Richmond and other suburbs east of San Francisco and the bill's author. "I'm hopeful that this bill will lend to his legacy, that it will help to prevent illness for young people and young athletes." Smoking is already banned in Major League Baseball, and the minor leagues have prohibited dipping and chewing, although some say the minor league rules are not strictly enforced.

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