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Monday, September 29, 1997

Fake cigarette boxes give children anti-smoking information

By ANNA M. TINSLEY Harte-Hanks Austin Bureau

AUSTIN -- Cigarette-style flip top boxes, stuffed with fact cards of teen tobacco use, are being circulated among political leaders nationwide to draw attention to young smokers.

Called "Unfiltered Facts," the box holds cards showing how much kids in every state use tobacco.

The cards are being released nationwide as Texas officials prepare to enact the nation's toughest anti-tobacco laws -- making it illegal for minors to even possess cigarettes or tobacco products.

In Texas, minors illegally buy 20.2 million packs of cigarettes every year, generating $38 million in sales. Twenty-eight percent of high school kids currently smoke cigarettes, according to the card by the National Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a Washington, D.C.-based initiative to cut down on youth tobacco use.

Twelve percent of high school boys currently use smokeless tobacco and 370,685 kids younger than 18 will die prematurely from tobacco-related diseases, according to the card.

State Rep. John Hirschi, a leading anti-tobacco crusader, said the cards draw attention to the problem and serve as an important reminder.

"(People) can use these cards to remind themselves, the people they work with and the people of our country that without action on tobacco at both the state and national level, our children will continue to become addicted at record rates," said Hirschi, D-Wichita Falls.

Earlier this year, lawmakers OK'd a bill requiring minors caught with tobacco products to attend tobacco-awareness seminars or risk losing their driver's licenses.

The measure legalizes tougher penalties against retailers who sell tobacco to minors.

It also forces the tobacco industry to pay a 10 percent surcharge on advertising to pay for programs to inform children about the danger of smoking.

Before this bill, there were no penalties for minors who smoke -- only for the retailers who sell to them. Portions of the bill went into effect Sept. 1. Enforcement provisions of the bill won't go into effect until Jan. 1.

State Comptroller John Sharp said his office has already begun to work with the Texas Department of Health to set up enforcement and public education programs.

"While we will start strict enforcement of the legislation after the first of the year, it's important for local authorities to keep in mind that new federal provisions are already in place at this time," Sharp said. "Senate Bill 55 allows local governments to enact more stringent requirements if they choose to."

Sharp said he will soon set up a toll-free telephone line -- available 24 hours a day -- to report violations of the state's new tobacco laws.

Health Department officials estimate that $5.1 billion in Texas health care costs can be attributed to smoking each year.

Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids officials say they are distributing the cards to inform people of the growing problem of teen smoking.

The campaign serves as a resource and partner for more than 100 health, civic, corporate, youth and religious groups dedicated to reducing tobacco use among children.

Sets of the cards are being delivered to members of Congress, teachers, public health advocates, state lawmakers and state attorneys general, officials say.

"For decades, the tobacco industry has filled their packs with poison; today we are replacing those deadly ingredients with truth and human consequence," said Bill Novelli, president of the campaign. "Each card tells of the staggering human toll that tobacco is taking on the health and lives of our children from state to state."

The state-by-state cards detail the number of kids who will die from tobacco-related disease, the number of children who use smokeless tobacco, the number of cigarette packs sold illegally to minors and other youth smoking facts.

"The Unfiltered Facts reveal the undeniable and sobering reality of tobacco addiction and its deadly effect on our children,"said U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine. "As a nation, we cannot afford to ignore the epidemic of youth smoking and we cannot sit still as more and more children fall victim to tobacco."

Novelli said he hopes the cards will spur lawmakers, parents and residents nationwide to protect kids from tobacco.

"Our goal is to be able to produce another set of cards in five years that tells a far different story than these cards tell -- a story of fewer kids buying cigarettes, fewer kids becoming regular smokers and most importantly, fewer lives being lost to tobacco addiction," he said.