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Cigarette sales to teens up sharply- Trend is blamed on budget cut
The Boston Globe ^
| May 1 2003
| Stephen Smith
Posted on 05/01/2003 8:19:38 AM PDT by new cruelty
Edited on 04/13/2004 2:09:43 AM PDT by Jim Robinson.
[history]
The number of stores illegally selling cigarettes to teenagers in Massachusetts more than tripled in the past year, according to a new survey, after budget cuts forced health boards across the state to abandon their local inspection programs.
In an elaborate sting operation run by the Massachusetts Association of Health Boards, teen volunteers were sent into shops to buy cigarettes in 68 municipalities that had stopped performing spot checks of tobacco sales. The teens were successful in 29 percent of the stores they visited in February, March, and April.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
TOPICS: Business/Economy; Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Massachusetts
KEYWORDS:
To: new cruelty
This can't be....Raising taxes on cigarettes was supposed to reduce teen smoking.
2
posted on
05/01/2003 8:23:20 AM PDT
by
kissthis
To: new cruelty
They can't smoke, but they can get abortions. Go Figure.
They can't gamble, but certain democrats want them to vote. Go Figure.
3
posted on
05/01/2003 8:23:59 AM PDT
by
PetroniDE
(Get Well Soon Dix !!!)
To: new cruelty
Teens are going to get cigs whether they purchase themselves or not. Booze too. Some of our laws just don't stop "crime".
4
posted on
05/01/2003 8:24:44 AM PDT
by
sarasota
To: sarasota
None of our laws stop crime. The punishments for breaking laws might deter crimes, but laws don't stop them.
5
posted on
05/01/2003 8:36:47 AM PDT
by
Qwerty
To: Qwerty
What happens when an underage teen buys cigs? Who gets the punishment?
6
posted on
05/01/2003 8:40:02 AM PDT
by
sarasota
To: new cruelty
I thought they were going to attribute teen smoking to their angst related too economic issues -- you know, blame teen smoking on bush and such.....stay tuned
7
posted on
05/01/2003 8:55:53 AM PDT
by
Cosmo
(Liberalism is for girls)
To: new cruelty
Some fat kids would be better off smoking than stuffing their faces with junkfood.
8
posted on
05/01/2003 8:57:02 AM PDT
by
mr.pink
Comment #9 Removed by Moderator
To: Joe Whitey
In other words, the kid commits the crime and the store keeper gets the punishment. Come to think of it, a local restaurant/bar was shut down because the bartender served one too many drinks to a customer.
10
posted on
05/01/2003 9:01:38 AM PDT
by
sarasota
To: new cruelty
And this is with raised taxes on tobacco products AND with the settlement money from the MSA.
Where is all the money going you might ask?
Look at the pork bills for the legislatures.
If the legislatures don't want to be hypocritical (yeh, right) ALL money raised from taxes on tobacco products and the money from the MSA should go to tobacco related programs.
11
posted on
05/01/2003 9:01:54 AM PDT
by
Just another Joe
(FReeping can be addictive and helpful to your mental health)
Comment #12 Removed by Moderator
To: new cruelty
On the bright side, tobacco-tax revenues are up.
13
posted on
05/01/2003 9:21:43 AM PDT
by
DuncanWaring
(...and Freedom tastes of Reality.)
To: Joe Whitey
But the best way to keep kids away from marijuana is to legalize it and regulate it.
So much for that theory!
Comment #15 Removed by Moderator
To: robertpaulsen
But the best way to keep kids away from marijuana is to legalize it and regulate it. So much for that theory!
Up until about 10 years ago, laws against underage smoking or minors purchasing cigarettes were on the books but rarely enforced. In the years prior, the level of teenage smoking had been declining steadily, as it became less fashionable and kids were better educated about its effects. Then came the draconian laws, and guess what -- now smoking rates among minors are on the increase because of the "forbidden fruit" factor.
Laws forbidding alcohol possession/purchase by minors have, OTOH, fairly much have always been vigorously enforced, and anecdotal evidence suggests that minors find it more difficult to obtain alcohol than marijuana. So, IMO, "the best way to keep kids away from marijuana is {still} to legalize it and regulate it." This has the added benefit of ending the criminalization of adults for the sake of "the children" of Hillary's proverbial "village".
Like it or not, there will always be "forbidden fruit" factor among teenagers when it comes to age-controlled items. No matter how hard society tries to eliminate access of these items to minors, there will always be some bad apples that will get what they want. The best we can hope for is that kids get good information about the dangers of such things, not DARE-style lies and scare tactics that encourage experiments with "forbidden fruit".
16
posted on
05/01/2003 11:21:20 AM PDT
by
bassmaner
(Let's take back the word "liberal" from the commies!!)
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