Dedication 'Iqmik Hurts Kids'

This website in dedicated to anyone that has been affected by the use and misuse of the substance called Iqmik.

Iqmik is the Yupik word for a mixture of long-cut, fire-cured Kentucky tobacco and the ash of a fungus (Phellinus igniarius) that grows on birch trees in the Y-K Delta. Locals mix ash from the fungus, commonly called "punk ash," with tobacco for chewing. Often, they pre-masticate the mixture and place it in a small box, where it is shared with others, including children and sometimes teething babies. If birch fungus is not available, they might use the ash of alder or willow. The practice is not new. European traders introduced tobacco to Natives in the Y-K Delta in the 1700s. By the 1800s, its use was widespread. No one is sure how long Natives have used iqmik, but it is prevalent in the region.

Research is only at the beginning stages, however, it is very clear that the use and the abuse of this substance is clearly affecting the overall health and well being of the people of SW Alaska.

Here you will find a compelation of research, ideas and personal accounts on the affects of Iqmik on users; especially how the misuse has affected the lives of young people. It is this bloggers hope that the information provided in someway will help with positive decision-making regarding the use of Iqmik. Foci will include use surrounding young people and use during pregnancy.

Quyana

ML

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Ikmiq and Smokeless tobacco from Jeanie Greene on Vimeo.

Supercharged chew is a tradition in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta

By KYLE HOPKINS — khopkins@adn.com

 BETHEL -- Jennifer Wilson, a dentist here, thought she knew chew. Growing up in tobacco-loving Kentucky, it was common to see men loading up on Copenhagen or Skoal. Women too.

What she found while treating patients in Western Alaska's largest city and the surrounding villages was something different: People of all ages, sometimes entire families, chewing an earthy, super-charged variety of smokeless tobacco.
It's called iqmik, or blackbull, and it makes a mule kick of a first impression. Like all smokeless tobacco it can lead to a lifelong nicotine addiction, receding gums and low-birth weight for babies of mothers who chew. It may enter the bloodstream even faster than over-the-counter chew. A University of Alaska Anchorage researcher is studying potential links between the homemade mixture of fungus ashes and tobacco leaves to oral cancer in Alaskans.

Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2012/10/06/2652842/chewing-mixture-of-tobacco-ash.html#storylink=cpy