Tobacco Documents Online

pENYER-RCCI(Y MOUM/dM NEWS " 14 M Tackling teen smokinggol::... ~ ttt9IssM PresJdud out- llna aMM.o- paeoo pun Lke President Cliutou, medical and social costs (in Colorado, the co we think Americans cotnbined state and federal tobacco taz is ~ tend to be too compla- probably already'at the necessary level, but cent about the number of that ia not true in at least a do:en, rnostly kids who get hooked on Southern, states). c' e President Clinton, tultortunatety, would .~ u ts who choose to Qo much further. He is saking the Food and OUpV1FtN: smote presumably know Prug Atlministration to come up with a ' tacWe ta.n the risks and have no one series of regltlatlons that would ban ciga- - +.t~,..e rettp adverttsing at sporting events and ~ •.~--.. .......~..._ amnktnj. uui bui iii2iief, 4 not the Flrst for any damage to their outlaw tobacco advertising on billboards Amsndmf:rt health. But it's stmply too within 1.000 feet of schools and play- ~ easy and too tempung, in grounds. tie wants to elitninate vending most communities, for young people to get machines and prohibit marketing gimmicks, hooked on a nicotine habit that most of such as selling half-packs or single dga- themwilllatercometoregret tettes, that might appeal to teenagers. He The question is what to do about teenage wants the tobacco industry to pay for a $150 smoking, especially since the percentage of millionanti-smokingcampaign. 13-, 14-, and 15-year otds who smoke has The question, ofcotuse, is not whether to actually risen in recent years, in contrast to discourage stookin~. This nation already' declining use in the overall population. Why does that with warnings on cigarette packs this should be is something ot a mystery. and public-service campaigns against smok- The hazards of smoking are well-known, ing, and the targeted efforts we advocate but for whatever reason -/:- defy their wouldincreasesttchactivitqd parents, to conform to peer pressure, as a No, the question is whether to attack the substitute for eating and gauung weighc - prublern through unpr,ecedcntcd govern- kids do it anyway. Every day, says Clinton, ment regulation, as the president suggests. 3,000 young opte becume rcgular smok- Tobacco happens to be a legal product - ers, and Lof the 3,000 are• likely to die dangerous, but legal. Up to nowt manufac- earlier as a result, turers have enjoyed the right to inform the Our own approach would include tighter public about the products they sell. Yet if restrictions on cigarette vending machines Clinton succeeds in ittpusing strict non- (several Denver metro coln...•tnities have broadcasting restrictions on tobacco ads - taken precisely such steps in recent through the ploy of deciaruti( nicotine an months); more active enforcement of exist- addictive drug - the door will be uacked ing laws against sales to underage buyers, for sinrilar advertising gags someday on M including heavy fules for retailers who flout othermanufacnuers. • (d the bw; emphatJc and cuucdilwted public There is no need to tnsh commercial N pressure against overt marketing of ciga- free spec.lt in order -to reduce tobacco ~F rettea to young people (tha liquor and brew- consum!uton, for down that road Ges the a` ing industries wouldn't date make the sort loss of 6eedom for all. Anti-tohacco educa- Ci1 opoven appeals to the youth market that. tional efforts, combined with public pres- to tolacin manufacturen get away with all the sure against irrespunsihle cotprrate mar- time); a mr -^,) tax that covers snlokint;'> ketoig. do in fuct work. Let's;tcp them up. 99 a7839,-/q Cut back kids' smoking, no~~he rights of adults SO AY, PF:HttAPS soon, we may see a kind of final show- down on the is+e of smok'ng Medical testimony against it is mounting, ev dpnee suggesting cover-ups by the tobacco industry is coming to light' and the number of smokers who might rise to defend their lllt is dwindling But not yet. For now, the Clinton administralion has decided to focus i1s fight on a narrower target: culting down aq smoking by minors. The president has asked the Food and Dtug,Adtnlnistratlon In frame new rules toward that end. Most of those t}Iles would limit cigarette advertising andsales in sometimes draconian ways; it's not at all clear, however, that they would do ... ,:._'. .° ^ a..•_. ^^t i g Illur.iq,~ n..u. ....,. - . Sonu of the proposed rulea are perfect examples of the mis- guided belief tNal government can micromanage every Issue- tbat it can know theiprecise point at which every line must be drawn. Fur e.umple, ojte nJe would declare that tobacco ads in magnzines popular with y4ungsters can contain only black•and-white text, no coler, nn pirutrrs. What's the point here? If tobacco advertising is a bad thing, lhen,why not ban il; it it Isn'1, then why have bureaucrats designing cont4nt and Prynutl Another rula would wipe out brand•name cigarette ads at all sporting events. But most of the spectators at baseball games and auto races and 4o fntYh are adldls. Yes, young people also attend, but by that realuning the ads would have to be barre.d anywhere any child migh/ stumble upon them. That's going too far for a prod- ucl lhat is still legal for adult consumption. The central Qrnhlem sr,,:ms to be that the administration wants to try to keep cigdrettes away from children when it should be ttying to keep cluldren away ftvm agareues. The best way to do thut Is to enforce laws t11ht are already on the books in every statc forbidding Ihe sale or ciga{'eucs to minon. A Wall Street Jountal atlicle yesterday noted that consistent enforcement b1f tw:al julisdictions can have dranulic reeullsI In . Woodbridge, tll. a slure that sells cigarettes to kids gets fined tip to 19uo. Before th+ law, 87 percent of the town's stnres would sell to minms; kids sept out undercover last month found uu place that would sell to aqm. The tobacco tudusuy says it now recognizes its responsibility toward tha nauhri s youth, and is going to redouble its effons to educate them about srwkiug's dangers and to lieut their access to cigaretles. Thellndustty's history doesn't make us sanguhte about those prvmises~ but Presir4-nt Reagan's phrase about Soviet arms agreements cnr~es to mind: "Trust, but velify." For now, maybe the best culrse Is i{~ keep up the public pressure for tral, wurBable answers lo the `'ruhlem-before we turn Arnerica int-^ kind of uuti :utnklug plli:c stule I