Youth Possession Fact Sheet |
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Penalties The tobacco lobby wants local municipalities to penalize children for tobacco possession. The tobacco industry is systematically urging municipalities to pass ordinances that would punish minors for the purchase and possession of tobacco products. This strategy would take the responsibility for the illegal sale off the seller (retailers) and put the responsibility on the minor. This would divert the purpose of laws which currently make the seller responsible for ht illegal sale and also make enforcement of these "responsible sales" laws virtually impossible to uphold. The tobacco lobby uses slogans such as "fair" and "equal responsibility" to encourage municipalities to penalize kids. Such actions may seem reliable, but in the long run, they aren't. Remember, many legislators accept campaign funds from the tobacco lobby. Penalizing minors who possess tobacco products actually protects the tobacco industry. They're are no reliable findings that support the idea that penalizing kids will deter youth from tobacco use. Why would the tobacco industry aggressively lobby for legislation to penalize minors if these laws reduced youth smoking? The tobacco companies know that time and money spent to enforce laws against kids means time and money that is taken away from enforcement for sellers. Tobacco companies deliberately addict children by their calculated actions; free gimmicks to encourage use, promotion of tobacco use in movies and on television, and special ads that appeal to youth. Then they want to criminalize children for responding to these enticements. Children should not be targeted in special ways for buying and using tobacco. Rather than penalizations, the following actions that can reduce their tobacco use should be considered: Comprehensive education
program K-12
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