| Abstract: |
The unusual pattern of oral cavity and respiratory tract cancers in Chiang Mai Province, Northern Thailand led to this descriptive study of sming, drinking and chewing in a rural community in Chiang Mai Province. A high proportion of adults were smers and both males and females had very high estimated lifetime tobacco tar exposures. Variation in additive mixed with tobacco in traditional cigars and differences in sming may be related to different respiratory cancer patterns in males and females. Manufactured cigarettes were little smed, and then mainly by young men and those of higher socioeconomic status. Betel nut chewing, found commonly in other parts of S.E. Asia was found only among the old, but chewing of miang, a fermented tea-leaf preparation was common in all age groups, and was generally accompanied by sming. Drinking of alcoholic beverages was rare and infrequent.
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