
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, July 5, 1990                   TAG: 9007050190
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BRENNAN M. DAWSON
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

KEEPING CIGARETTES FROM KIDS

AN EDITORIAL May 29 ("Ban cigarette machines") advocated a new set of rules and regulations to prevent youth from smoking. Let's look at this another way.

If people were running a stop sign - an illegal act - would it make sense to suggest that what we really need is a roadblock? More likely, we would all agree that the traffic laws should be enforced.

We can all agree on something else. Kids shouldn't smoke. It's that simple. But a ban on cigarette vending machines or requiring special licenses for cigarette retailers won't achieve that goal. Enforcing the law will.

Vending machines are a tempting target. It's easy to visualize a youngster buying cigarettes from a vending machine in a shopping mall or outside a gas station. But cigarette-vending machines are usually located where minors cannot not legally be, or in places they're not likely to frequent.

Almost one-third of all cigarette-vending machines are in bars. Another 39 percent are in industrial plants and offices. Four percent are in hotels. More than seven out of 10 are in locations where young people aren't.

So if you ban vending machines, you primarily remove access for adults, not young people, because you're removing cigarettes from places like cocktail lounges and factories. The roadblock is catching everyone - not just those who ignore the law.

Requiring special licenses to sell tobacco won't cure the problem of illegal sales to minors. Special licenses have been required for years to sell alcohol, but that hasn't stopped kids from drinking.

A 1989 federal report tells us, "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."

In fact, two of every three high-school seniors reported alcohol use in the past month, and about 35 percent reported having had five or more drinks in a row in the past two weeks. That's compared to less than 20 percent reporting that they smoke daily. If that many more young people are getting alcohol, it's clear that licensing isn't the solution to keeping cigarettes away from them.

Right now, it is illegal for cigarettes to be sold to minors in almost every state across the country. These laws are the "stop sign." Enforcing them, rather than replacing them, is the way to keep adult products, like cigarettes, from reaching young people.

by CNB