Pubdate: Fri, 29 Oct 1999 Source: USA Today (US) Copyright: 1999 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. Contact: 1000 Wilson Blvd., Arlington VA 22229 Fax: (703) 247-3108 Website: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nfront.htm STATES SOFT-PEDAL EFFORTS TO PROTECT TEENS With billions of dollars at stake and headlines beckoning last fall, states lined up to proclaim themselves toughest on tobacco, and to grab a share of a $206-billion settlement with the tobacco industry. But when it comes to stopping cigarette sales to teens, many states have shown far less exuberance. Almost all states continue to allow cigarette sales through vending machines, an easy buy for teens. In 21 states, storeowners face neither fines nor loss of their cigarette licenses for selling tobacco to minors. And Minnesota and Iowa, two states that crowed the loudest when fighting the tobacco industry in court, have actually moved backward: More merchants sold cigarettes to minors this year than last, state studies show. Such easy access to cigarettes by those most vulnerable to their allure does nothing for a nation dedicated to cutting its smoking rate. Research shows that the vast majority of people who smoke started by age 18. And about 20% of high school seniors now smoke regularly. Reducing teens' access to tobacco is an important key to assaulting this addiction. At least that was Congress' thinking in 1992 when it passed a law with tough financial penalties for states that failed to reduce tobacco sales to minors by prescribed margins. Now states must do surprise inspections of stores, and by this year, most must show that at least 70% of merchants refuse sales to teens. But seven states and the District of Columbia have fallen so far short of the program's goals that they now are facing federal penalties of nearly $37 million. Seven more states have missed their targets by smaller margins. What went wrong? The law does have flaws. Most obvious is the financial penalty, which cuts a state's drug-abuse treatment funds. That's so at odds with the war on drugs that the Clinton administration has been loath to use it. Still, states shoulder most of the blame for the lagging progress. In Maryland, where the state gave local police the power to ticket violators, smoking foes recently found only five of the state's 24 jurisdictions actively enforcing the law. In Delaware, law enforcement agents can issue citations to merchants caught selling to minors, but they weren't doing federal inspections. Those were done by the state's health agency, which had no authority to punish violators. Only recently did the two team up. The states offer many excuses for their problem-riddled programs: weak penalties imposed by legislatures, haphazard local enforcement, and judges who give violations low priority and fail to impose fines. But some states are proving it can be done right. Louisiana, which started with the nation's highest underage sales rate, now reports that only 20% of stores still sell to minors. The state credits its $400,000-a-year budget, the work of local volunteers and enforcement by the agency that oversees liquor laws. And Massachusetts has shown what a campaign of price hikes, edgy anti-smoking ads and limiting sales can do. Smoking among its youth, age 12 to 17, has dropped 15% since 1993. Precisely what will stop teens from smoking remains a mystery, even to experts. But it's no mystery that denying them the chance to buy cigarettes certainly will help. - --- MAP posted-by: manemez j lovitto