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| Monday, Mar 3, 2003 |
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Posted on March 02, 2003 Legislature should strengthen law regarding underage tobacco use The bill was sponsored by Rep. Scott Talley, R-Spartanburg, who has been pushing tougher tobacco laws for the past few years. Although national studies show that teenage smoking is declining, there are still children taking up the tobacco habit all the time. One anti-smoking group estimates that 11,000 minors in South Caro- lina start smoking each year. That's why it's worthwhile to strengthen the laws that prohibit underage access to tobacco. State law makes it illegal to sell tobacco products to minors, but the burden of that law falls completely on the retailers. They are penalized if they sell cigarettes to a minor, but the child is not punished for buying the cigarettes. Talley's bill would change that. It would make it illegal for a minor to possess tobacco products. Breaking the law would be a minor offense punishable only by fines or community service, and the conviction could disappear from a teenager's record once he turned 18. This is a healthy change in the law. Teenagers should recognize that they are at least as responsible for their actions as are the adults around them. If they bear no burden under the law for their own activity, it is as if the state were telling them that it isn't their fault if they smoke. The responsibility lies with the store clerk who sold them the cigarettes. It's much better for the state to send them the message that retailers are held responsible and that teenagers are also held responsible. Responsibility for one's own actions is a concept that is endangered and should be reinforced as often as possible. The bill also would tighten the pro-visions on tobacco sales. It would increase the penalties for selling tobacco to minors. It would restrict cigarette vending machines to businesses open only to adults or to locations where the machine is constantly supervised by the business owner. These provisions should be effective in reducing the number of South Carolina teenagers who take up smoking, endangering their health. That reduction would save Palmetto State families future health care miseries and save the state millions in future medical costs. The Senate should pass this bill and get it enacted. |
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