Wednesday, February 02, 2000
Ban on youth smoking stalls
BY BRUCE SCHREINER
The Associated Press
FRANKFORT — A bill to prohibit youth smoking stalled in the Kentucky House on Tuesday amid objections about involving court workers.
The bill would prohibit anyone under 18 from possessing or using tobacco products. Police officers would confiscate cigarettes from minors smoking in public.
The officer would cite the minor and notify a court-designated worker. The court worker would inform parents that their child was caught smoking.
That's where the bill ran into considerable resistance and eventually prompted its sponsor, Rep. Steve Nunn, to have the proposal set aside.
Under the version that emerged from committee, a repeat offender would have to complete a smoking-cessation program, if one exists in the county. The minor would have to show proof to the court worker that he
completed the course. Any youngster failing to comply could be fined or ordered to perform community service.
Also, minors who refused to turn over their smokes to police could be charged with disorderly conduct.
Mr. Nunn, R-Glasgow, said youngsters caught with cigarettes would not be treated any more harshly than if they drank or were speeding.
The bill would be part of a comprehensive strategy against youth smoking, tied in with tobacco settlement money used for smoking cessation programs, he said.
“There is no illusion here that this law will stop young people from smoking,” Mr. Nunn said. “But it will provide a consistent message that we don't want them to smoke.”
Kentucky is the nation's largest burley tobacco producer and has a high underage-smoking rating.
In the most recent survey by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 47 percent of Kentucky high school students said they smoked at least once in the prior month in 1997, and 29 percent said they used smokeless tobacco.
But the inclusion of court workers drew a chorus of complaints from House members, who said the matter should be handled by parents.
“When is government going to stop trying to be the parents of our kids?” said Rep. Gary Tapp, R-Shel byville.
Rep. Charlie Walton, R-Florence, said the bill wouldn't be enforceable.
Rep. Robin Webb, D-Grayson, said the court workers already are overburdened with other cases involving juveniles.
After hearing the many objections, Mr. Nunn made a motion to have the bill laid on the clerk's desk, setting the bill aside. It would take a simple majority vote of House members to bring it back up for consideration.
Mr. Nunn said afterward he would talk to colleagues before deciding what to do with the bill. One option, he said, would be to drop the penalty provisions.
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