Tobacco Documents Online

The Tobacco Institute 1875 1 St reet, 1V ort h west K'ashington, DC 20006 (800) 424-987 6 . . . ON YOUI'FI SMOSING REDUCING ACCESS Health and Human Services Secretary Louis Sullivan has proposed measures whereby states would take new legislative action on proposals such as licensing tobacco retailers and banning vending machines. Such measures are misdirected. The National Automatic Merchandising Association,. the national trade association of the vending industry, indicates that nearly 80 percent of all cigarette vending machines are located where persons under the age of 18 are not allowed access or rarely frequent. o Almost a third of all cigarette vending machines are located in bars and cocktail lounges. Nearly 40 percent are found in industrial plants and offices, and almost 8 percent are found in hotels, motels and other generally adult settings. Thus, a ban on cigarette vending machines would primarily remove adult - not youth - access. Those few vending machines that are located in places where youth may 4eqaent should be supervised. 1Le tobacco industq will actively support legislation in the states to accomplish this goal. This action - not a ban on vending machines in workplaces or bars - will help reduce youth access. licensing of tobacco retailers is also suggested as a regulatory approach to reducing purchase of cigarettes by young people. However, the logic used - that tobacco should be sold in the same restrictive manner as alcohol - also argues against this as an effective solution. o A 1989 Health and Human Services report tells us that "despite the fact that it is illegal for virtually all high school students and most college students to purchase alcoholic beverages, experience with alcohol is almost universal among them and active use is widespread." The report indicates that two of every three high school seniors report alcohol use in the last month. Right now, it Is illegal for cigarettes to be sold to minors in almost every state in the country. Laws are already in place. Enforcement of these laws is the best way to keep adult products, like cigarettes, from being sold to young people. In the past - and for the future - the tobacco industry has maintained responsible positions on the issue of smoking by young people. The longstanding policy of cigarette manufacturers is that the choice to smoke or not to smoke is to be made by informed adults. N © N N 4%] O