ANTI-SMOKING EFFORT MAKES FEW INROADS

Recent reports regarding the sale of tobacco products to underage youths and advertising aimed at youngsters indicate that the many federal and state laws passed to curb smoking aren't working very well.

New laws require merchants to ask tobacco purchasers under the age of 21 for appropriate age verification. And new laws regulate certain types of advertising that might encourage young people to smoke. And new laws require vendors to post specific warning signs that indicate minors aren't allowed to purchase tobacco products, but many merchants haven't done that yet.

With all the attention to the recent multibillion-dollar settlement between state attorneys general and tobacco companies, it would seem that the message about tobacco would be pretty clear. In fact, it would seem that the negatives of tobacco use, now admitted even by tobacco companies, would be enough to get parents to take more interest in the habits of their children.

But that isn't the case, so legislators continue to pass laws while the federal government continues to be heavily involved in the tobacco industry, both through regulation and subsidies.

Recently, a Missouri group known as ASSIST, which stands for American Stop Smoking Intervention Study, sent teams of teen-agers and adults round the state to see if merchants are complying with the laws and to see if tobacco advertising is still aimed at youngsters. One of the teams looked at merchants in Benton.

For the most part, the ASSIST teams concluded that youngsters are still very much the target of tobacco ads, and many merchants statewide aren't complying with laws regarding IDs and the posting of anti-smoking signs.

Meanwhile, the national anti-smoking effort is growing by leaps and bounds. There are literally dozens of organizations whose purpose is to curb smoking, ban smoking or help smokers to quit.

One example is the Foundation for Smokefree America, whose founder is Patrick Reynolds. He is the grandson of tobacco magnate R.J. Reynolds. Reynolds attributes the deaths of his father, a brother and other relatives to cigarette-induced illnesses.

With such compelling testimonials and other evidence regarding tobacco products, it seems that it would be easy to deal with the advertising and sales of such products. But the fact is many Americans enjoy smoking, and for now they are free to do so.

The ultimate regulation of smoking will come, no doubt, only when consumers are convinced that the bad effects outweigh the pleasure. So far that hasn't happened, and the curious tussle between mounting scientific evidence that smoking is harmful and continued government approval of tobacco products is likely to continue for a long time.