THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 12, 1997 TAG: 9702120502
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LAURAN NEERGAARD, ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: 57 lines
The Food and Drug Administration is hiring state inspectors to catch stores that illegally sell tobacco to teen-agers - the first phase of a crackdown that the government will explain in a ``national town meeting'' in 25 cities including Virginia Beach next Tuesday.
Most of the cities will hold Tuesday afternoon's interactive broadcast in United Artists cinemas, utilizing the theaters' satellite equipment to let the crowds question FDA officials stationed here.
Ten other cities will get separate visits from FDA officials to introduce retailers, local government officials and average citizens to a regulation that takes effect Feb. 28 forcing stores to get photo identification proving young customers are old enough to buy tobacco.
But the FDA's outreach is under fire from a congressional opponent, who questions whether the briefings, particularly next Tuesday's video broadcast that features a speech by Vice President Al Gore, are really politics designed to drum up anti-tobacco support.
``I will appreciate a detailed summary of the costs to the taxpayers of these `town meeting' events,'' Sen. Lauch Faircloth, R-N.C., wrote FDA Commissioner David Kessler, giving him until Monday to respond.
FDA Associate Commissioner Mitch Zeller called the meetings necessary for confused communities.
``Some people didn't understand the rationale behind carding people,'' Zeller said Tuesday after hundreds of people crowded into the first briefings, in Baltimore and Boston, to learn about the new law.
Nationally, it is illegal to sell tobacco to anyone under age 18. Beginning Feb. 28, the FDA says retailers must get proof of age from anyone who looks younger than 27 - much as stores demand photo ID from people in their 20s who are buying alcohol.
Zeller showed the crowd a poster with two similar models, one age 16 and one 25, to illustrate how easy it is to sell tobacco illegally to a mature-looking minor.
Stores caught selling to teens, in undercover inspections the FDA is hiring states to perform, get a warning the first time, but will be fined $250 for each additional violation.
The FDA last year announced new regulations of tobacco designed to cut teen smoking in half. In addition to requiring photo IDs, the FDA plans in August to begin curbing tobacco advertising seen by teen-agers. Additional rules would kick in next year.
The tobacco industry opposes the regulations and on Monday asked a federal judge in North Carolina to invalidate them. U.S. District Judge William Osteen said he will rule on the issue no sooner than mid-March. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
Video Conference
Source: Food and Drug Administration
KEYWORDS: TOBACCO TEEN SMOKING