PORT TOWNSEND — Jefferson County Public Health officials believe that ongoing education — for youths as well as the retailers who sell cigarettes — is needed after five of 49 retailers in a recent compliance check sold to minors.
Julia Danskin, county Public Health nursing director, said that — compared with other communities and in the face of stepped up county efforts to better educate retailers and youths — the results of the compliance check came as a surprise.
Results dismaying
“We were disappointed,” she said.
Education programs have included a contest to design a coffee mug logo at The Boiler Room youth center in downtown Port Townsend, which uses mugs with the winning logo, and a tobacco-free pledge drive at the Port Townsend High School.
Karen Obermeyer, Public Health’s county tobacco prevention coordinator, said the retailers will receive more education and compliance checks throughout the coming year.
“All tobacco retailers receive annually in-person education about youth tobacco laws as well as clear educational materials about how to read [identification cards] and the consequences of violating the law,” she said.
“Our goal is for all retailers to ask for ID, check the age on ID and then refuse to sell tobacco products to minors. Most retailers obey the law, but some need more education and reminders that this is an important law.”
Youth who are 17 years old and with identifications cards were used in compliance checks.
The Synar Amendment, a federal law, requires all 50 states to conduct random compliance checks with tobacco retailers each year.
It’s illegal to sell or give tobacco to those under age 18.
In recent years, state tobacco prevention funds through the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have gone to youth education and retailer education programs to prevent smoking among minors.
Those dollars are declining, Danskin said, as government belts are tightened, which could hamper the future prevention efforts.
“So we are seeing a reduction in our ability to reduce youth smoking,” she said.
Coffee mug logo
Jefferson County has used prevention dollars for youth programs such as the March tobacco prevention fair and contest to design a coffee mug logo at The Boiler Room at 711 Water St., in Port Townsend, celebrating Kick Butts Day.
Anna Vendola, Americorps VISTA volunteer for The Boiler Room coffeehouse, coordinated the contest.
The winning design — “Don’t Be Next,” by Susie Tweedy — was one of more than 30 designs submitted by local youths.
In another program, more than 20 Port Townsend High School students in teacher Martina Haskins’ class pledged to live tobacco-free, participating in a six-hour prevention training course.
Obermeyer coordinated this program in cooperation with the American Lung Association’s Teens Against Tobacco Use, or TATU.
Buy their smokes
Obermeyer said research shows more than half of all youth smokers usually buy the cigarettes they smoke, either directly from retailers, from other youths or by giving money to others to buy for them.
“Not surprisingly, the older or more regular youth smokers who buy their own cigarettes are also major suppliers for their friends,” Obermeyer said.
“So keeping tobacco out of the hands of minors is very important.
“The earlier someone first tries smoking, the higher their chances of becoming a regular smoker and the less likely they are to quit.”
Lifetime smoking and other tobacco use almost always begins by the time a person turns 19.
“Young people’s naive experimentation frequently develops into regular smoking, which typically turns into a strong addiction,” Obermeyer said.
“Efforts to decrease future smoking levels need to include a focus on reducing experimentation and regular smoking among teenagers and even pre-teens.”
Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the nation, the Centers for Disease Control said on its website, http://tinyurl.com/2adq6vs.
One in five deaths are caused by tobacco use, Obermeyer said, and 90 percent of people who smoke started before they were 18.
A 2008 Public Health survey of 184 Jefferson County high school students revealed that 25 percent had tried smoking, with 8 percent admitting they had smoked in the past 30 days.
That is slightly higher than results statewide, Danskin said.
Another such survey will be conducted this fall, she said.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
