Stopping teens
from smoking is a big challenge many communities face today. Many communities can only watch without
action while local businesses continue to sell tobacco products to minors, even
under risk of penalty of law.
Recent studies show that a large percentage of
teens today are getting their cigarettes from stores, mostly gas stations or
convenience store. As teens continue to
be able to buy their own cigarettes, more and more communities begin to impose
stronger punishments on merchants who sell to the teens.
One community has experienced success in their
attempts to stop the sale of tobacco products to minors. Woodridge, Illinois, started a program seven
years ago which forbade and strictly punished the sale of tobacco products to
minors. The entire program includes
local licensing of vendors, repeated undercover inspections to see if the sale
to minors has stopped, and education programs in schools. Woodridge has become a model community as
other communities are moving to stop teen tobacco use.
A recent national study showed that 36.5% of
females, and 40.8% of males buy their cigarettes from stores, whether it be a
gas station or a supermarket. Hopefully,
as more and more merchants see the trouble they face if caught selling to minors,
they will stop selling.
True, tightening down on stores that sell
tobacco to minors isn¹t going to completely stop the problem of teen tobacco
use. Teens continue to get them from
other sources. But it definitely does
hamper their efforts. With more
education in schools, and perhaps stronger punishments for teens caught with
tobacco, more and more teens will see the problems with the tobacco usage, and
will stop the habit.
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