Don't be surprised if you find a tin of chewing tobacco in your teen's back pocket.

Rural teens are more likely to chew tobacco than those in the city, and city kids are more likely to smoke than chew.

An AADAC study in 2002 found that 9.9 percent of rural kids between grades seven and twelve chewed compared to 6.4 percent of teens in the city; and only 15.2 percent of them smoked compared to 18.2 percent in the city.

Tobacco Reduction Counsellor Leslie Munson says she has a guess why chewing is more common in small towns.

"It's associated quite a bit in the rodeoing community," she said. "That's where we're seeing a lot of use."

Munson says both methods cause cancer -  smoking in your lungs, and chewing in your mouth.