ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, September 21, 1996 TAG: 9609230047
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: FAIRFAX
SOURCE: Associated Press
For the first time in memory, police have filed illegal possession of tobacco charges against two teen-agers who were caught smoking outside their high school.
The two 17-year-olds, a boy and a girl, were spotted puffing on cigarettes outside Fairfax County's W.T. Woodson High School. They were charged under a misdemeanor state law that prohibits the possession of tobacco products by minors.
The arrests were made Tuesday by Officer Steve Bullock, who regularly patrols the school grounds.
A researcher at the National Criminal Justice Reference Center, which compiles statistics on crimes throughout the United States, said she could find no mention of unlawful tobacco possession in the center's records.
``I can't imagine that anybody collects this data,'' she said. ``It hasn't really been enforced.''
Instead, critics of teen smoking have focused on advertising by the cigarette industry and whether it targets young people.
A new federal crackdown on teen smoking includes undercover stings in which juveniles are recruited to watch for stores selling cigarettes to minors.
Fairfax police often issue warnings when they see young people smoking, said Steve Lofton, a county police spokesman. ``When I was out on the street and working ballgames, I'd sure give out a lot of warnings,'' he said.
Lofton said Bullock found the two Woodson teens, whose names were not released, smoking cigarettes at 7:30 a.m. outside the high school.
If found guilty in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court, the youths will face fines of up to $50 each.
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