Tennessee Attorney General Paul Summers has asked country star Gretchen Wilson to stop plugging smokeless tobacco in her stage act, but it's only a suggestion.
When Wilson sings her latest song, "Skoal Ring," she waves a can of smokeless tobacco. The "ring" refers to the circular outline the round can leaves on a back pants pocket.
In a letter to the singer, who hit the top of the charts with her debut album "Redneck Woman," the attorney general wrote: "Because your actions strongly influence the youth in your audiences ... I ask you to take steps to warn young people of the negative health effects of the smokeless tobacco use."
Summers said he heard of her act during a routine conference call with officials in other states discussing the national tobacco settlement with cigarette and smokeless tobacco manufacturers.
"We can't stop her and it's only a suggestion," Summers said.
A spokesman for UST Inc., which makes Skoal, said the company has no arrangement with Wilson, or with any other performer.
Wilson has not responded, said Sharon Curtis Flair, the attorney general's spokesman, on Friday.
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