PREVENTING KIDS FROM STARTING A BAD HABIT

In response to Kathy Smith's column of Nov. 23 ("Unhealthy Choices
Are Better Than No Choice"): The underlying goal of Proposition 10 was
to increase the tax on cigarettes to discourage teens from initiating
smoking. Research has indicated that young smokers are at an increased
risk for chronic smoking, but that increasing the cost of cigarettes
decreases the rate at which teens smoke. Healthy choices are not
simply a matter of education but, as most research indicates, are the
result of complex interactions among personal, social and
environmental factors.

Furthermore, while the personal freedom argument has been a staple in
the tobacco industry, freedom cuts both ways. Many question the
tobacco industry's freedom to target kids with Joe Camel advertising.
Why raise taxes on cigarettes? The answer is simple: Smoking among
young people is increasing. As former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop
points out, once addicted, our kids may find kicking cigarettes as
tough as kicking heroin.

ELAINE ROBINSON-FRANK
Hawthorne

Checked-by: Rich O'Grady