Oregon needs tougher enforcement against sales of tobacco to teenagers
By now nobody disputes the health risks associated with smoking. Lung cancer, the leading cause of cancer death in Oregon, is the most ruthless outcome, with 81 percent of lung cancer deaths related to smoking.
The often overlooked fact is that lung cancer is considered to have a latency period -- the time that passes between picking up the smoking habit and the expression of cancer symptoms -- of about 30 years. Meanwhile, an estimated 80 percent of regular smokers pick up the habit before the age of 18, early enough to experience the full risk window.
These numbers represent a healthcare time bomb if ignored but also a striking opportunity: to nip the problem in the bud by aiming prevention efforts at the young, whose altered habits can save thousands of Oregonian lives annually and help them to avoid mounting costs associated with cancer treatment and lost income. That's to say nothing of what the grim final years of life look like for terminal lung cancer victims, as most need assistance from families and friends who dig into their own earnings to help out.
There was good news in a recent federal report that showed all states, Oregon among them, continued to exceed federal targets for reducing the sale of tobacco products to underage folks. The bad news was that Oregon was lagging in improvement and was found to be leading the nation -- again -- in the number of retail outlets that illegally sold cigarettes to minors. While the retailer violation rate nationally was 9.1 percent -- barely half the U.S. target of 20 percent -- Oregon stores showed a violation rate of 17.9 percent. Violations are recorded when underage decoys enter the store and attempt to make a purchase.
Oddly, Oregon's 11th graders may smoke less than their peers nationally. The Oregonian's Nick Budnick attributed to an Oregon health official a survey finding that 12 percent of high school juniors reported using tobacco in the previous 30 days, well below the national average of 19 percent. And yet that bright note contrasted with a finding in the same survey that 6 percent to 7 percent of Oregon 8th graders reporting smoking compared to 5 percent to 6 percent of their national peers.
Either way, it is unclear just how many teenage smokers ultimately obtain their cigarettes at the store. Significantly, overseers claim Oregon's method of conducting decoy sting operations produces results that are only 75 percent accurate. And most teenagers who are surveyed claim "friends" as their source of cigarettes. But Budnick cited a 2011 state survey in which one third of 11th graders who said they'd smoked in the previous 30 days also said they'd purchased their cigarettes at the store.
Putting aside the question of where "friends" get their smokes in the first place, too many young people are pulling off a scam at the cash register that's way too costly in life and money for them and, down the line, all Oregonians. Oregon, which in recent years cut and then modestly restored its cigarette prevention funding, must do better.
Efforts in the Legislature and at the ballot box to raise taxes on cigarettes have foundered. But enforcement can tighten up in several ways, least expensive of all a willingness to make penalties progressive: A clerk or store manager caught selling to minors more than once should minimally pay sharply higher, escalating minimum fines. Oregon should standardize its inspection methods to improve accuracy in its reporting and increase the number of enforcement actions to signal to store owners and citizens that sales to minors are taken seriously. And federal funds to support enforcement efforts -- such funds are available, but Oregon hasn't yet applied -- should be immediately sought.
It's the least Oregon can do if it is serious about saving more lives and the prosperity they create.
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