STATE GETS CREATIVE IN FIGHT AGAINST TEEN SMOKING
The Department of Health and Social Services is gearing up for the next round of battle against the use of tobacco by kids. With techniques such as stings against stores that sell tobacco to youth and public service announcements about health risks, the Department is continuing its efforts to reduce the harmful effects of underage tobacco use. The legal age for purchasing tobacco in Alaska is 19 years.
"We know that the earlier a person starts using tobacco, the higher the health costs that person and society will pay," says Commissioner Jay Livey. "Our goal is to use a variety of methods to educate the public and tobacco vendors. Working together, we can reduce the number of kids who start smoking."
In his recent State of the Child Speech, Governor Tony Knowles said, "Very few young people die from tobacco, so why do we talk about it as a kids' health issue? Because we know 14,000 Alaska kids who smoke today will continue this addiction as adults - and die from it." The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 32% of youth who become regular smokers will die prematurely of a smoking-related death. Tobacco use is responsible for approximately one in five deaths in Alaska and is the single most preventable cause of death and disease. Among Alaskan youth ages 18-24, 38% were current smokers in 1999. Among Alaskan high school youth, 33.9% reported using cigarettes in the past 30 days, similar to the national rate of 34.8%.
(read the complete text of the "State of the Child Speech")
According to Karen Pearson, Director of Public Health, "In conjunction with the Alaska Tobacco Control Alliance and other state and local partners, the Department is promoting a variety of initiatives to help prevent tobacco use by youth." These include a counter-marketing program aimed at teenagers, to promote cessation of cigarette smoking and other tobacco use and to decrease the likelihood that kids will begin using tobacco products. Countermarketing messages can also substantially influence public support for tobacco-control intervention and build a supportive climate for school and community efforts. The State's efforts will also include a vendor education program to support vendors in preventing sales to youth, and to educate tobacco sellers about penalties for selling tobacco to youth under age 19.
As of January 1, 2002, new or modified laws take effect that allow the State of Alaska to better track the number and location of tobacco venders and raise the fee for a tobacco sales license to offset part of the cost of law enforcement. The new law means that vendors caught selling tobacco to youth will face mandatory suspensions and fines (under current law, the penalties are negotiable). It also gives the Department authority to cite vendors who sell tobacco to youth.
Early in 2002, the Department will renew its vendor check program, the fourth round of state-funded vendor checks since 1998. The purpose of the checks is to assess vendor compliance with state law prohibiting the sale of tobacco to youth under age 19. The Department seeks to work with local police on such efforts and will continue to rely primarily on contracts with local police departments to enforce the law, supplementing with our own staff or contractors as needed to provide statewide coverage. As the program is institutionalized, vendor checks are anticipated to become a routine, ongoing function of the Department's tobacco program.
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For more information about the tobacco control program, please contact Elmer Lindstrom, Deputy Commissioner, DHSS, at (907) 465-1613.
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