Lautenberg aims to ban tobacco use in Major League Baseball

    When Washington Nationals pitcher Steven Strasburg announced last month he wants to quit using chewing tobacco, U.S. senators saw that as an opportunity to create a league-wide ban.

    New Jersey’s Frank Lautenberg and Illinois’ Dick Durbin are asking MLB Commissioner Bud Selig and the MLB Players Association to ban the use of smokeless tobacco products on the field, in the dugout and in locker rooms.

    Smokeless tobacco was banned from minor league venues nearly three decades ago, and the senators cite an increase in use among high school boys as one reason to take the ban league wide.

    They commended Strasburg for trying to set a good example for young fans.

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