Missing My Grandpa

This entry is a sad one for me. My grandfather, Robert Yragui, died from emphysema over Labor Day weekend.

I was just getting to know him. He was my biological mother's father. I was not in touch with that part of my family until recently. I reached out to Grandpa first. He was very sweet and caring. He liked to recount stories of his youth in Idaho growing up on a ranch with his Basque relatives. He was a passionate progressive and always railed against the Republicans. He was smart and articulate and soulful.

I felt so sad to see him suffer from emphysema. He smoked for many years but finally quit in his 50s. I guess the damage was done, though. He developed emphysema later on that progressively got worse. Every time I visited him he had his oxygen tank with him as well as a coterie of inhalers and medication. As time went on, everyday tasks became harder for him. He could not go down the street for a short distance without being short for air. Things got so bad that he had to go into a hospice for the last four months of his life. The disease that stole his breath finally stole his life.

I am so angry with the cigarette companies! Tobacco products are the only products that kill when used as directed. They cause a constellation of illnesses, of which emphysema is one. Emphysema is a disorder of lung inflation characterized by enlargement and destruction of the air spaces. If a person has chronic bronchitis as well as emphysema, the condition is called Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Smoking is responsible for 80-90 percent of all COPD cases, including emphysema. COPD is now the fourth most common cause of death in the United States and is rising.

When will the carnage stop? I am doing my part with Butt Out to inspire the LGBT community to fight against the tobacco industry. You can be part of the fight too. If I can prevent even one young person from sharing my grandfather's fate, I will have succeeded.

Robert (Bob) Andrew Yragui

July 13, 1933 - Sept. 4, 2010

Here is his obituary in the Chronicle

Robert (Bob) Andrew Yragui July 13, 1933 - Sept. 4, 2010 Passed away at home in Vallejo, on September 4, 2010 after a long battle with Emphysema. Bob was born on July 13, 1933 in Shoshone, Idaho. Bob attended the University of Santa Clara where he obtained a B.S in history. Bob then met Maurine Yale and they married in San Francisco on April 14, 1957. Bob went to work for the U.S. Postal Service as a letter carrier. He was very active in his union local, and was elected shop steward. He began his union locals' first newspaper. Bob is survived by his wife Maurine, and daughters, Teresa, (husband Ron Garnys), Elizabeth Ann, Emily (Mike Arnold), Claire (Rudy Jaime), and Catherine Yragui, his beloved grandchildren, Jane Aceituno, Merisa, Kyle, and Kelly Rasmussen, Brandon Yragui, and brothers Nicholas, Edward, and Leon Yragui. A memorial Service will be held on Saturday, September 11, 2010 at 2:00 pm, at Skyview Memorial Lawn, 200 Rollingwood Drive, Vallejo, CA 94591, (707) 644-7474. A gathering at the family home will follow the service. The family would like to thank Sutter VNA and Hospice

Smokeless, spitless tobacco danger to youth

Teen smoking is a huge issue for LGBT youth. Fully 43.7% of our queer youth are smokers. That is nearly half of the teen population! The tobacco companies have traditionally recruited new smokers using their cigarrette products, which taste aweful and emit disgusting fumes. The tobacco companies are now marketing new tobacco products that will entice even more young people into the smoking fold.

Here comes smokeless tobacco.

Smokeless tobacco products come in all sorts of forms. Snus is a big product. It comes in tea-bag like packets, is spitless, and comes in flavors like spearmint and peppermint. Other products include tablets that look like small breath mints and strips and sticks of finely milled tobacco that are dissolvable.

These products are a menace to young people. A lot of these products are cheap and taste like candy. Bucking adult supervision, teens can use the tobacco products discreetly, without spitting or gushing out cigarette smoke.

While youth smoking has been on the decline, use of smokeless tobacco products has been on the uptick. The National Youth Risk Behavior Survey, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has found an upswing in the percentage of youths who have used smokeless tobacco at least one day in the month before being questioned - from 7.8% in 1999 to 8.9% in 2009.

Previously small time ventures, the smokeless tobacco products are now being touted by major manufacturers like Marlboro and Camel. The danger is that youngsters starting out on smokeless products produced by one manufacturer will graduate to the cigarettes produced by that manufacurer. A potentially life-long and life-threatening addiction is then born.

Smokeless tobacco is a stealth attack on our youth by the tobacco companies. It will be interesting to see what the FDA does. These products should be banned for directly or indirectly enticing and attracting young people. Let's see!

Stay in Touch!

Keep track of the work Butt Out is doing by going to our website (www.butt-out.org/), friending us on Facebook (butt-outsanfrancisco) or by connecting with us on Twitter (twitter.com/buttoutsf).Butt Out is a project of Breathe California, funded by the San Francisco Tobacco Free Project, which works to get tobacco money out of LGBT community organizations in San Francisco. We also educate the public about the hazards of smoking and about smoking cessation.