BY MICHAEL HAWTHORNE
Enquirer Columbus Bureau
COLUMBUS -- Tapping into growing anti-tobacco sentiment, two of Ohio's top statewide officials called Monday for increased penalties for retailers caught selling cigarettes to minors.
The proposal by Gov. George Voinovich and Attorney General Betty Montgomery is the latest attempt to curb teen smoking, which continues to rise nationwide despite more aggressive prevention efforts.
Under their initiative, retailers would be required to buy new licenses to sell tobacco products. Proceeds would help enforce a ban on tobacco sales to children younger than 18.
"I believe that most retailers and their employees do what the law requires when it comes to selling tobacco to our youth, but I also believe that we must step up our enforcement," Mr. Voinovich said.
While the on-again, off-again national settlement with tobacco companies includes a similar proposal, Mr. Voinovich said licensing programs can be operated more efficiently by the states.
Ohio law allows regulators to fine clerks who sell cigarettes to minors. If state lawmakers approve, store owners could face a $500 fine for the first offense and a $1,000 fine for the second offense. Those who violate the law a third time could have their licenses revoked.
A study released earlier this month by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that cigarette smoking among high school students increased from 27.5 percent in 1991 to 34.8 percent in 1995 to 36.4 percent in 1997.
When combined with chewing tobacco and cigar smoking, teen tobacco use reached 43 percent in 1997, the survey found.
Andrew Herf, executive director of the Ohio Association of Convenience Stores, said the proposal is weighted too heavily against retailers. His group supports rival legislation that targets under-18 smokers for punishment.
Anti-smoking activists, meanwhile, said the proposal doesn't go far enough.
"It's a good start, but we need to do things like raise the age limit for tobacco sales to 21 and increase the price of tobacco products to discourage minors," said Robert Crane, associate director of the Family Medicine Residency at Ohio State University and founder of an anti-tobacco group called Tobacco to 21.
The governor and attorney general haven't lined up legislative sponsors for their proposal. Nor have they determined how much the proposed license would cost retailers. But they hope it will help pressure Big Tobacco to reach a national settlement.
"We need to move on several different tracks," Ms. Montgomery said. "I don't think it's too much to ask retailers to do more to protect our most vulnerable consumers."
