CALIFORNIA'S ANTI-SMOKING EFFORT FALTERING, STUDY SAYS

After early success, California's pioneering attempt to curb smoking has
lost its momentum - perhaps because of political pressure to restrict the
program, according to a new report.

Cigarette consumption per person initially declined 52 percent faster in
California than in the rest of the country at the beginning of the
multi-pronged attack on smoking. But smoking rates leveled off after 1994,
when the program lost significant funding and began running less aggressive
advertisements, according to a new study by John Pierce and colleagues at
the University of California at San Diego.

"Pierce's results showed it is possible to run a successful tobacco-control
program," said Stanton Glantz of the University of California at San
Francisco, an anti-tobacco activist involved with the state program. "It
also shows that it's possible to run it into the ground." Glantz blamed
Gov. Pete Wilson, under whose administration the program lost funding.
Wilson "delivered for the tobacco industry," Glantz said.

Not so, said Donald Lyman, chief of California's Division of Chronic
Diseases and Injury Control, whose responsibilities include the tobacco
program. "The bottom line is that the program works" and enjoys "success in
excess of any other program in the country," he said. The program cut its
own funding as its success in curbing tobacco use grew, Lyman said.

The California Tobacco Control Program began in 1989; it was formed in a
voter initiative and funded with a 25-cent-per-pack tax. The millions of
dollars generated by that tax were earmarked for tough anti-tobacco
advertising, cessation programs, school-based prevention programs and
enforcement efforts.

Early ads, like one purporting to feature tobacco executives in a
smoke-filled room laughing about hooking new generations of smokers, were
dropped. Tobacco industry lobbying intensified during that time, Pierce and
colleagues noted; the paper also cited a 1990 Tobacco Institute memorandum
that pledged to limit the effectiveness of the California plan.

Pierce said the effectiveness of the program could well have declined for
other reasons, including 1993 price reductions on tobacco products, the
novelty wore off the program, and those smokers most susceptible to the
media campaign had already quit.

Although California's 18 percent smoking rate is still below the 22.4
percent average in the rest of the U.S., the authors conclude "the
California Tobacco Control Program clearly lost its original positive
effect on reducing smoking, which must be of considerable concern to the
public health movement."

The results of the research were published in yesterday's Journal of the
American Medical Association and were funded by the Tobacco Control Program.

Most outdoor ads for alcohol, cigarettes banned in L.A.

The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - Outdoor alcohol and tobacco advertisements would be virtually
eliminated under a new citywide ban approved unanimously by the City Council.

The council's vote yesterday bans billboards and on-site advertising, such
as window displays, within 1,000 feet of schools, parks and residential
areas. It also bans the ads near churches, homes and youth and
entertainment centers.

Next, the ordinance goes to Mayor Richard Riordan, who has expressed
support for its goals of removing alcohol and tobacco ads from most
billboards. If he signs, the law would go into effect a year later, giving
companies time to comply.

Representatives of the tobacco, alcohol and advertising industries objected
to the ordinances, as did the American Civil Liberties Union.

"The Council should take the Constitution into account before making
decisions about free speech," ACLU lawyer Peter Eliasberg said after the vote.

Los Angeles County passed a similar measure in June, though the county's
measure only prohibits billboards within 1,000 feet of places frequented by
children, and in residential zones.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski