ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 2, 1996 TAG: 9603060012
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-9 EDITION: METRO
THE GENERAL Assembly has put some teeth into the state law that prohibits sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products to minors. Not a whole set of chompers maybe. But a couple of good-sized bicuspids.
One measure requires that restaurants and other establishments with cigarette-vending machines locate those within sight of a clerk or store manager - or else convert them to operate by tokens that customers would have to obtain from clerks.
The purpose is obvious: to prevent minors with more coins than good sense from buying cigarettes from machines, which now too often are located in out-of-the-way halls, entries and restrooms where they can't be monitored. Banning cigarette machines would have been a better idea, but this legislation is welcome nonetheless.
Likewise with another bill on Gov. George Allen's desk, which will require storekeepers, before selling cigarettes, to check the IDs of customers who look like they're under the age of 18. Its sponsor, Del. Bill Mims, R-Leesburg, wanted to set the ID requirement up to age 21 - again, a better idea. Few 15-, 16- and 17-year-olds can pass for 21, even if they can pass for 18.
Nonetheless, the legislation that passed is an improvement. Irresponsible store owners now will have less excuse for selling cigarettes to kids. They can't claim they broke the law unknowingly because they ``assumed'' the buyer was 18.
Of course, the new law must be enforced - in a way the current, weaker law against cigarette sales never has been. Still, while law-enforcement officials can't police every convenience store and gas station to make sure they're not selling to minors, the Mims bill ought to reduce the number of places known to kids as easy marks for tobacco purchases. With fewer such outlets, police officers should be better able to crack down on violators.
They should be asked to try. Notwithstanding recent, heightened attention to the problem of adolescent smoking, a government study suggests that children are finding it easier than ever to buy tobacco products. Between 1989 and 1993, underage smokers who reported buying their own cigarettes increased from 58 percent to 62 percent, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The national study found that 45 percent of minors who tried to buy tobacco products in 1993 were never asked to show proof of age. An astounding 88 percent of 12- to 15-year-old smokers who were surveyed said that they had bought cigarettes from small stores. Thus do kids in Virginia and elsewhere join the ranks of nicotine-addicted Americans who, in numbers exceeding 400,000 every year, suffer terrible deaths from tobacco-related diseases.
This year's enforcement legislation is helpful. A bigger step toward saving lives - increasing the tobacco tax to discourage smoking among price-sensitive adolescents - awaits another session and the belated acquaintance of lawmakers with their consciences.
LENGTH: Medium: 57 lines KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1996by CNB