THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 4, 1994 TAG: 9412010012
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
The annual Great American Smokeout last month attracted less attention than usual. That may be because the American turn from smoking is irreversible.
Disenchantment with cigarettes has banished smoke from most enclosed public spaces and many outdoor stadiums, just as the turn from chewing tobacco led to the virtual fading of cuspidors from post-World War II America.
Even in Virginia, where tobacco's contribution to the economy and influence upon lawmaking are immense, smoking is on the run. An ex-smoker quipped that he had stopped smoking in the 1980s for the same reason he'd started it in his teens: peer pressure. When he first lit up, smoking was perceived as sexy, sophisticated, smart. No longer. Smoking now is seen as dumb and, around others, an affront.
The Tobacco Institute, established to counter attacks on tobacco, is largely alone in disputing smoking's risks. In the United States, smoke-free air is now the norm in airplanes and buses, taxis and restaurants, supermarkets and boutiques, governmental offices and factories. The military, which long exhorted personnel to smoke 'em if you've got 'em, now discourages puffing away.
Still, it's somewhat surprising that smoking is restricted at three of every four work sites in Virginia. That statistic comes from the University of Virginia Center for Survey Research, which also reports that indoor smoking is banned at one of every two Virginia workplaces. Despite spirited opposition from the tobacco lobby, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration seems likely to regulate workplace smoking nationwide.
With per-capita U.S. consumption of cigarettes continuing to slide, America's tobacco giants are boosting sales to foreigners - China and Russia are extremely promising markets - while fighting a rearguard battle against higher cigarette taxes and tightened governmental regulation at home.
Some foreign governments are displeased by the invasion of U.S. cigarettes, at times because American brands rout their native products, at other times because they line up with the World Health Organization in deploring smoking's adverse impact upon individuals' health and national medical costs. West European governments have joined the anti-smoking campaign in a big way.
So global resistance builds to smoking. But not as fast, apparently, as global acceptance. Cigarettes are destined to have a long run. by CNB