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Thursday, January 27, 2000 Page: 10A
Syndicated columnist Dave Barry once summarized the national tobacco
settlement in these terms: The tobacco industry admits it is killing people by
the millions and agrees to continue doing so, only now under strict government
supervision.
After studying Gov. Tom Ridge’s proposal for spending the $11 billion
Pennsylvania will receive under the settlement, we’re beginning to fear Barry
might have it right. And we’re hoping the General Assembly will amend his plan
to dedicate more of the money toward reducing the number of smokers in the
Commonwealth.
Ridge would earmark only 10 percent of the money, which will be paid over
25 years, for programs that would deny tobacco companies their consumers, and
victims, of the future – Pennsylvania’s children and teenagers.
That’s shameful given the state’s terrible showing in a recent study of
illegal cigarette sales to minors. In a three-year survey, the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration sent teenagers into 140,000 stores in 40 states and found
Pennsylvania retailers were willing to sell cigarettes to minors 37 percent of
the time. That’s well above the national average of 25 percent. Only four of
the states surveyed did worse.
By comparison, Florida’s retailers sold cigarettes to minors only 11
percent of the time. Florida dedicated nearly half of the initial payments
from its $11 billion tobacco settlement toward a comprehensive program to
battle teen smoking. That program includes stiff fines for tobacco sales to
minors, a ban on possession of tobacco by minors and a statewide anti-tobacco
education program developed with input from teenagers. In one year, Florida
reduced smoking among high school students by 8 percent and middle school
students by 19 percent.
In Pennsylvania, Gov. Ridge has proposed dedicating 40 percent of the
settlement toward providing health insurance to the uninsured, 15 percent
toward home health care for the elderly, 15 percent toward medical research,
10 percent to reimburse hospitals for care they provide to the indigent, 5
percent as an endowment for future spending and 15 percent for smoking
prevention and cessation.
All are worthy causes. But we believe the ratios proposed by the governor
betray a disregard for the circumstances that produced the tobacco settlement
in the first place – the health expenses incurred by the Commonwealth due to
smoking-related illness. Accordingly, a larger portion of the settlement
should be dedicated toward reducing the number of smokers and future smokers
and preventing such expenses in the decades to come.
Without such a focus on denying the tobacco industry access to new victims,
the settlement is not worth the very real concessions granted to the industry,
including protection against future government litigation. And the industry
has already shown its usual deftness in getting around some of the
settlement’s provisions aimed at reducing its appeal to youth. For example,
now that tobacco companies are barred from buying billboard advertising,
retailers are advertising their cigarette prices on billboards.
While Gov. Ridge is to be applauded for insisting that all of the
settlement money be spent on improving the health of Pennsylvanians – indeed
some state legislators had favored tax cuts, tuition rebates and capital
improvements – we believe he has vastly underestimated the need for, and the
potential of, a comprehensive program aimed at reducing smoking by our youth.
We hope the debate on his proposal in the General Assembly will refocus the
state’s approach toward spending the tobacco settlement.
To find out which retailers in your hometown have sold cigarettes to
minors, follow the link to the Food and Drug Administration site on our
homepage at www.leader.net.