TOBACCO SHOULD BE TREATED AS ADDICTIVE DRUG

Kids can't drink, can't drive, can't vote and can't use drugs. But
they can smoke.

Logic never works when it comes to tobacco, even with adults. But kids
and tobacco? That should be a no-brainer.

It sure seemed that way when concerned citizens and Hazleton area
power brokers gathered to denounce Pennsylvania's thin-as-air laws
against underage tobacco use. They testified before four
neatly-dressed, straight-backed teenagers, members of the student
board from Serento Gardens, a drug and alcohol rehab center.

The student board planned a Harrisburg visit to push for tougher laws,
and held the public hearing in City Hall to gather ammunition. They
got what they came for.

"Look at the list of ingredients in tobacco," suggested Al Rende, a
member of the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Luzerne County. "Butane,
arsenic, formaldehyde. Why would we allow our children to smoke these
products?

"Why is there a profit in human strife?"

Hazleton Police Chief Ed Harry pointed out that, if it were lumped
with illegal drugs, tobacco would rank with the most addictive
substances in circulation, like heroin.

Hazleton Area School District Superintendent Geraldine Shepperson
painted a gloomy reality. Students are taken to court for bringing
tobacco onto school grounds -- a violation of state law -- but the
$124 fine is apparently an ineffective deterrent.

"It's depressing to see repeat offenders," Shepperson said, "and
they're paying $5.15 a week to pay off their fine.

Changing the message

Those testifying offered solutions too, like doing away with subtle
advertising that most of us probably don't even notice.

"You look at the 'Take a penny, leave a penny' tray in stores and
who's there?" asked Andy Gregaris, chairman of the county's tobacco
free coalition. "Joe Camel."

Susan Parrick-Cox, representing U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, suggested
some initiatives, like requiring tobacco ads and products in stores be
placed at least 3 feet from the floor -- away from impressionable eyes
- -- or requiring tobacco vendors to display one anti-tobacco ad for
every three trying to sell tobacco.

Shepperson promoted a tougher idea: "It's also not fair for adults to
have tobacco on the school grounds when kids can't. I think the law
and penalties need to extend from student use to adult use."

I'm not an anti-tobacco extremist. My dad smoked by the carton when I
was a kid. I grew up smelling smoke, and smelling of smoke, every day.
I smoke an occasional cigar myself.

Dad cut back sharply and tried to quit several times, but smoked
privately into his 70s, reserving cigarettes for the basement, garage
or trips alone in the car.

Smoking didn't kill dad when he was 83, but it surely helped. He
started smoking as a teenager. It was cool and common and no one knew
better.

But that's no longer the case. The bigger problem with tobacco today
isn't when to stop.

It's when kids start.