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News (Media Awareness Project) - US TX: Tobacco Campaign Under Way
Title:US TX: Tobacco Campaign Under Way
Published On:1998-02-25
Source:Houston Chronicle
Fetched On:2008-09-07 15:00:57
TOBACCO CAMPAIGN UNDER WAY

Anti-smoking effort aims at teen-agers

AUSTIN -- State health officials Tuesday unveiled an anti-smoking campaign
that warns teen-agers that tobacco not only can harm their health, but it
also may cramp their lifestyles.

The media campaign is designed to spread the word that, under a new state
law, people younger than 18 caught smoking or possessing a tobacco product
can be fined as much as $250 and, in some cases, have their driver's
licenses suspended.

One public service announcement for television shows a judge's gavel
shattering a teen-ager's driver's license. Another features the brother of
the actor who portrayed the Marlboro Man in cigarette ads and later died of
cancer.

A third TV spot features a young woman who started smoking at age 10 and
had a lung removed at 24 because of emphysema. Now dependent on medicine
that has changed her appearance, she says, "I started smoking to look
older, and I'm sorry to say it worked."

"This is a tough-love law, but we don't want our kids hooked on tobacco,"
said state Health Commissioner William R. Archer III.

Archer said studies have indicated that more than 90 percent of adults who
smoke started between the ages of 9 and 18. And, according to the Texas
Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, smoking among students in grades
seven through 12 increased by 25 percent between 1992 and 1996. About
400,000 of Texas' 1.7 million secondary school students use tobacco.

The new restrictions on teen smoking, which went into effect Jan. 1, are
part of a comprehensive anti-smoking bill enacted by lawmakers last year.

Archer said it is the "most progressive legislation in the United States
because it says kids who smoke will be stopped."

In addition to being fined, people younger than 18 who use or possess
cigarettes or any other tobacco product can be required to attend a tobacco
awareness program or do community service.

Judges can suspend driver's licenses for repeat offenders, for failure to
pay a fine or for those who fail the class or don't complete their
community service.

The campaign also includes a radio spot and a poster, titled "Another
Side-Effect of Smoking," which includes a photo of a teen-ager's driver's
license with "suspended" stamped across it.

In a survey conducted to help identify a campaign message, 64 percent of
the young people responding said the threat of losing their driver's
license would keep them from smoking.

The state-funded, $300,000 campaign, developed by Sherry Matthews
Advertising and Public Relations of Austin, will include some purchased
radio time. But the TV spots will be offered to stations as public service
announcements.

Attorney General Dan Morales has proposed that the state's anti- smoking
campaign be boosted with $200 million of the money the state will receive
from cigarette companies under the settlement of the anti-tobacco suit.

But the Legislature will have to approve that expenditure next year.

The new law requires retailers to ask for proof of identification from
anyone purchasing tobacco who appears to be younger than 27.

It also imposes new restrictions on cigarette vending machines and
billboard advertising.

Under the settlement of the tobacco lawsuit, cigarette companies agreed to
end all billboard and public transportation advertising in Texas.

Copyright 1998 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau
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