Key Findings
State Tobacco Control Policy cont'd
Youth Access
Disease of the Young
Tobacco use is a disease of the young. Every day 4,000 children under the age of 18 start smoking for the first time and close to 1,500 of them become established daily smokers.47
Since the Master Settlement Agreement was announced, the tobacco industry has increased its marketing expenditures by 127 percent.
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The earlier a smoker starts, the more likely he or she is to die from tobacco use. Enactment and enforcement of policies to restrict the sale and distribution of tobacco products to minors are effective components of a comprehensive tobacco control program.
Parents, teachers, community leaders and the public agree that minors should not have access to tobacco products. Even the tobacco industry purports to share this view. Nevertheless, that same industry aggressively and consistently fights meaningful efforts to enact and enforce youth access laws at the federal, state, and local levels and relentlessly continues to target the nation’s youth.
Tobacco Industry Marketing
According to the 2005 Federal Trade Commission report on cigarette sales, advertising and promotion the tobacco industry spent close to $15.2 billion on advertising and promotion in 2003. This is an increase of 127 percent since 1998 when the Master Settlement Agreement was announced. The largest expenditures were for price discounts to cigarette retailers in order to reduce the price of cigarettes.48 The CDC has blamed the increase in tobacco industry marketing and promotion as one of the reasons for the recent slowing of the decline in youth smoking rates.49
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In 2003, major cigarette companies spent $41 million a day marketing their deadly products. |
Banned from using cartoon characters to sell its products, the tobacco industry has begun to market cigarettes in candy flavors. As outlined in the American Lung Association report: From Joe Camel to Kauai Kolada—the Marketing of Candy- Flavored Cigarettes, candy-flavored cigarettes appeal directly to youth and young adults. With names like Caribbean Chill, Margarita Mixer, and Mandalay Lime it is not surprising that 20 percent of smokers 17 to 19 years old have smoked flavored cigarettes.50
In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of youth who purchase cigarettes through the Internet. A 2003 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) found that youth have easy access to cigarettes on the Internet because many online vendors don’t check ages or don’t have an age verification process.51 Attorneys general in a number of states have begun cracking down on illegal Internet sales of tobacco to minors. In 2005, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced new agreements with UPS and DHL, two of the world’s largest shipping companies, barring the delivery of cigarettes to individual consumers. These agreements come on the heels of a March agreement with major credit card companies to refuse to participate in Internet sales of cigarettes.
Youth Access Success
Studies have found that making it as difficult and inconvenient as possible for kids to get their hands on cigarettes reduces the number of youth who smoke. These tactics also reduce the number of cigarettes smoked by youth who are regular smokers. About half of all young smokers report they usually buy their cigarettes directly from retailers or vending machines, or by giving money to others to purchase the cigarettes for them. Increasing cigarette prices and minimizing the number of retailers who are willing to illegally sell cigarettes to kids reduces smoking by young people.52
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Youth Access
Results from Delaware
Delaware’s youth access law has been very successful in increasing retailer compliance. Since 1999, the statewide compliance rate has risen from 66 percent to 97.3 percent, significantly increasing the number of outlets that comply with the prohibition against selling cigarettes to minors. Delaware has the highest retail compliance rate in the nation.
Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2005. |
2005 Highlights
In 2005, Hawaii passed a law requiring licenses for retailers who sell tobacco products, and Virginia passed a law licensing tobacco distributors. Maryland and Ohio passed laws banning Internet sales of tobacco products to individual consumers. Twenty-three states received an F in youth access. Because reducing youth access is an important component of a comprehensive tobacco policy, these states are missing out on vital strategies to curb youth smoking. States must do more than just enact strong youth access laws; they must enforce those laws. Enforcement is critical for keeping tobacco products away from youth.
Looking Ahead
The American Lung Association expects that a number of states will pass bans on candy-flavored cigarettes and more states will restrict the sale of cigarettes over the Internet.
Key Findings Continued... |
