The following editorial appeared in the Chicago Tribune:
If you go to the website of the Surgeon General of the United States (surgeongeneral.gov), you can see a new public service announcement featuring teenagers in a cemetery, talking about the harmful consequences of smoking. It resembles hundreds of other spots we’ve all seen, and it’s likely to have the same effect — not much.
The ad accompanies a new report which laments the stalled progress against adolescent tobacco use. After a sharp drop in youth smoking between 1997 and 2004, the decline has slowed, and today, 18.7 percent of high school seniors use cigarettes.
That’s a higher rate than anyone would like, but some humility is in order.
The report puts the blame on tobacco companies for spending nearly $10 billion a year on advertising and promotion. But it’s easy to exaggerate how much impact that spending has on kids.
After all, as the surgeon general acknowledges, “the Master Settlement Agreement with the tobacco companies in 1998 resulted in the elimination of billboard and transit advertising, eliminated print advertising that directly targeted underage youth, and limited the use of brand advertising.”
Most marketing funds are now spent on price discounts, and the report argues that these are especially enticing to kids because they are more price-sensitive. But keep in mind that no one under age 18 is legally allowed to purchase tobacco products anymore. And money-saving promotions are a reasonable tool for capturing market share among adult smokers.
If you think advertising is the culprit, keep in mind that cigarettes are now less popular with high school seniors than marijuana — and pot doesn’t have a $10 billion marketing budget. It’s tempting to blame Big Tobacco for corrupting kids. But that view endows ad departments with far more power than they actually have.
So what can be done about teen smoking? It’s wise to accept the limits of anti-tobacco efforts. The administration’s dream “to make the next generation tobacco-free” is unrealistic, given that some kids will always want to take needless risks.
But some useful steps could be taken. One is tightening enforcement of laws against selling tobacco to minors — with prosecution of adults who buy smokes for high school students.
Another is raising taxes on these products. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids says research suggests that a 10 percent increase in the price of cigarettes cuts kids’ smoking by about 7 percent.
Making cigarettes less affordable and less accessible will help to reduce the amount of teen smoking. But more preaching? A lot of kids are really good at tuning that out.
Comments (14)
Add commentEnforcement
It's illegal for minors to smoke. So what happens if one is caught? A little fine, if that?
I suggest that they be required to perform community service, aiding smokers, and former smokers, who are now suffering from lung cancer, emphysema, and heart disease. Nothing like seeing the real effects of smoking, on real people.
And I'll bet those real people will pass on their opinions about cigarettes to those kids. The older smokers that I know despise cigarettes. They hate the fact that they're addicted. They can't quit - decades of addiction and habit are just too much for them to conquer. But none of them want their kids to suffer the same fate.
typical nonsence
So here we once again have a genius with a quick fix to teen smoking. Raise the price and increase the tax. If only it were that simple.
Perhaps since we seen teens
Perhaps since we seen teens smoking all over Juneau, JPD should arrest them. They cant legally buy them, then they cant legally possess them. If they are smoking them, arrest them and find out where they got them and go after that person too. If nothing else it would get them out of the publics eye. Tired of having to pass the gauntlet of underage smokers to get into stores. Its one of those laws that nobody enforces other than to go after the poor grocery store workers to trick them into selling without seeing an ID then firing them. If its the parents leaving their packs laying around and accessible, fine them a couple hundred and see if they dont guard their cigs a little better
It IS that simple - raise taxes!!!
I am always a big proponent of raising tobacco taxes through the roof for various reasons.
First, as the author alluded to, it does indeed inhibit teens from starting to smoke. If something is too expensive, they will turn to less expensive forms of buzz...like weed. I think this is a good thing. If my kid had to choose between tobacco and weed, I'd prefer he'd pick weed. It's far less dangerous and far less addictive (and cheaper).
Secondly, CBJ directly benefits from the revenue tobacco taxes bring. So, raise the taxes through the roof! When tourists arrive, I envision cigarettes being $30+/pack, and they can pay the tax! Spend the money on parks and rec!
One thing is for certain...every time a cigarette tax is on any ballot, a majority of people will vote it in.
So, let's put it on every ballot!
And if I ever caught my kid smoking tobacco, the next day he would be involuntarily confined to rehab for a month or however long it would take. And he would know this from the day he can say "cigarette." Tobacco is as addictive as heroin.
I agree with kpawsuh!
JPD should arrest/cite juveniles for smoking. I see it everywhere. Surely JPD does too.
And these juveniles are usually in the company of other juveniles who are also smoking, or, they have tobacco on them. It's not that hard to smell it on them. Smokers stink really, really bad.
Then, call their parents. Some parents are so clueless, they don't know their kids are smoking, or they don't care, or they consider it no big issue.
Put them in handcuffs. Search their person. Cite them. Fine them $500 for the first offense, and double the fine with each subsequent offense.
Oh, and make their community service that they spend eight hours/day picking up cigarette butts off Franklin Avenue, Front Street, in front of ANB Hall and Marlintini's!
Where are you guys seeing all
Where are you guys seeing all these kids smoking? I'm downtown all the time and I don't think I've ever seen anyone underage smoking (or at least anyone I knew was underage).
Maybe you dinosaurs think all us young'ns look the same?
Tax? Criminalize?
Makes no sense. Enforce the laws on the books. Make them hide their fags like they hide their joints and beers and any other illegal activity. Tobacco is legal. So is alcohol. You just have to be old enough. It's a matter of personal choice with relativity to consequences. Price and advertisement have little consequence to the addict.
Sorry, PP, but in order to
Sorry, PP, but in order to see stuff you might want to pull your head out every once in a while. They are every where. Walking from the high school to Pelmenis for example. Time to wake up...
No Answer:
I drive by TMHS everyday and see kids smoking as they walk down the sidewalk all the time.
You can also see them at the bus stop and hanging around the mall.
Jo, I understand your stance on smoking and I feel the same. Lost many friends and family members due to smoking. I don’t believe raising taxes will help, maybe to a point though. I think the ones who are addicted and need that fix will just steal for the money. Just like the druggies do. I don’t know how anyone can even get past the stench not to mention the taste. It’s pretty nasty.
Methinks you oldsters are
Methinks you oldsters are exaggerating a bit. Considering you don't have occasion to hang out with the kiddies very often (unless you work at JDHS or TMHS), and you certainly don't have the superhuman powers of perception required to differentiate a 19 year old from an 18 year old, methinks you're turning a one-time observation into a blanket statement.
After all, those darn kids are too unruly these days! Why, back in your day, if a kid even so much as LOOKED at a cigarette before they were of age, they'd have to smoke an entire CARTON of cigarettes while being caned and having their mouth washed out with soap!
Back in the day...
...youngster, I could buy cigarettes from anyone and for anyone and smoke them anywhere in public with the exception of a bar... Unless accompanied by a parent... Usually. Parental guidance was occasionally waived.
Well, PP, its pretty easy to
Well, PP, its pretty easy to tell 14-15 yr olds vs 18 yr olds.
I enjoy a cigarette after a
I enjoy a cigarette after a cup of coffee in the morning, after a good meal, and after sex.
I think we could better use our JPD resources dealing with the rape, molestation, theft, vandalism, narcotic abuse, etc going on in this town.
I have no problem parading someone with a trach-hole through the elementary schools but there are a lot bigger fish to fry than some teenies sneaking a stogie in the cemetery......
Good for you, Blackdog!
Down to one smoke a day!
Quit the coffee and you'll be smoke-free.