CIGARETTE ADS MAKE UP MOST ADS IN RETAIL STORES

BOSTON -- The message is plastered across storefronts across the state --
buy cigarettes.

More than half the ads on the fronts of Massachusetts retail stores hawk
cigarettes, according to a study released yesterday by the state Department
of Public Health.

Public health officials say those ads are concentrated in poor
neighborhoods and near schools.

"The tobacco industry has made every storefront a battleground for the
health of out youth," said Public Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Koh.

The study looked at more than 3,000 stores in 125 cities and towns in the
Bay State. Of the 20,000 ads posted in store windows, 52 percent advertised
tobacco products.

Public health officials said convenience stores and gas stations carried
the most cigarette advertising -- 55 percent of their ads -- while
pharmacies and drug stores had the lowest proportion of tobacco ads.

The study also found that stores within 1,000 feet of a school were more
likely to display cigarette ads.

Stores in poor neighborhoods had an average of five tobacco ads per
storefront while in more affluent neighborhoods stores usually had only
three such advertisements. In minority neighborhoods almost 60 percent of
storefront advertisements were for tobacco products.

Koh said the pervasiveness of cigarette ads can give children the false
impression that most people smoke. He called for convenience stores to
voluntarily reduce tobacco advertising.

Checked-by: Joel W. Johnson