
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, May 29, 1990                   TAG: 9005290222
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

BAN CIGARETTE MACHINES

PARENTS who would rather their children didn't smoke are bucking the odds. In most states it's illegal to sell cigarettes to minors, but children don't have any trouble buying them. Now comes Health and Human Services Secretary Louis Sullivan with some worthwhile ideas for keeping tobacco out of youngsters' hands.

Sullivan's strongest proposal - and the one most likely to upset adult smokers - is to do away with cigarette-vending machines. If the nation hopes to cut down on the number of children who smoke, this move is essential. Vending machines may be a convenience for adults, but they are a hassle-free supply for the nation's youngest smokers.

Virginia's penalties for tobacco sales to minors don't apply to vending machines, provided the machines carry a notice that purchase of cigarettes by children is illegal. How many children who smoke are likely to be scared off by that?

Sullivan also wants states to strengthen existing laws that prohibit tobacco sales to minors. If laws in other states are like Virginia's, they aren't much of a deterrent. In Virginia, the law forbids children under 16 from even possessing tobacco products. However, the maximum penalty for either sale or possession is a $25 fine.

Action is needed. Education about the health dangers hasn't persuaded enough children not to smoke. Too many still think cigarettes make them look cool. Nearly 19 percent of high-school seniors smoke - about the same number as a decade ago.

People who start smoking young continue the deadly habit into adulthood. Between 80 percent and 90 percent of the adults who smoke started before they were 18. Because of a choice they made as children, the chance that their lives will be shortened is very great.

Clearly, parents, teachers and others need to encourage children to resist the temptation to smoke. Just as clearly, some minors will smoke anyway. Responsible adults ought to see that the temptation is at least reduced, if not eliminated. Sullivan's proposals would do that. The states, Virginia included, ought to listen to him.

by CNB