ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 29, 1996 TAG: 9612310065
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ELEANOR H. GARRETT
ON DEC. 5, the state's Board of Directors for the American Lung Association of Virginia voted to condemn the actions of Attorney General James S. Gilmore III in filing a ``friend of the court'' brief challenging the U.S. Food & Drug Administration's tobacco regulations.
We are disappointed that Gilmore would position Virginia on the side of tobacco as opposed to protecting the health of our children.
Certainly most Virginians disagree with the attorney general's position, and favor increased regulation of the tobacco industry, particularly to reduce smoking among teen-agers.
In an August poll, 69 percent of Virginians said they favored restrictions on tobacco advertising to curb teen-age smoking. In the same poll, 55 percent said the federal government should regulate nicotine as a drug.
The argument that the FDA regulations would have a detrimental impact on Virginia's economy is weak. The regulations would only restrict sales to youth - sales that are already illegal. It is not the abolition movement the tobacco industry and its allies are depicting it to be.
The simple fact is smoking among teens is on the rise. Each day, 3,000 children smoke their first cigarette. Even more shocking, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that more than 135,000 Virginia children could eventually die because of tobacco-related illnesses.
We need tough, enforceable laws to prevent children from the harmful effects of smoking. The FDA regulations would do just that.
It is the hope of the American Lung Association of Virginia that the attorney general will reconsider his decisions to side with the tobacco manufacturers and, instead, will follow the wishes of the majority of Virginians to restrict youth access to tobacco.
Eleanor H. Garrett is president of the American Lung Association of Virginia.
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