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Wednesday, August 19, 1998
Teens' cigarette ordinance defeated
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 OSTA MESA -- Statistics on teen smoking, impassioned arguments and the support of two city committees were not enough to convince a majority of the City Council to approve an ordinance banning self-service tobacco displays in city stores.
A group of four teenagers has worked since April on the campaign, sponsored by Camp Fire Boys and the Girls Speak Out! program. "It was disappointing, but at the same time we have a lot of motivation to bring this back up," said Eva Varma, one of the four teens. Eva said the group will try to win more public support and bring it back to the council in January, when the council will have at least one new member. The ordinance was defeated by a 3-2 vote Monday. Mayor Peter Buffa and Councilmen Gary Monahan and Joe Erickson cast the dissenting votes. "I didn't think it would be effective for what we were trying to accomplish," said Buffa, who is not seeking re-election in November. "It's already illegal to sell cigarettes to minors. If there's a problem with that, we should do a better job of enforcing that." Buffa added that it "didn't make sense to most of us to say these kids can't really help themselves, they're shoplifters by nature." Eva said the ordinance was aimed more at limiting young people's access to tobacco products, not shoplifting. The group's goal was to reduce underage smoking by preventing the display of tobacco products near candy or at a child's eye level, she said. "This is how tobacco companies are targeting kids," Eva said. The project was born last year when another group of teens participated in a merchant education program with the help of Cal State Fullerton. Teens attempted to buy tobacco at 70 stores in the city and were successful at 20 stores, said Judy Valenzuela, program coordinator at Camp Fire. The teens then helped educate merchants about the state law that prohibits the sale of tobacco to minors but later found there were relapses. Eva, Mehgan Fay, Aivan Nguyen and Becca Silva -- who all attend Estancia High School -- won the support of the Child Care and Youth Services Committee and the Advisory Committee of Teens, both of which recommended approval of the ordinance. "The Speak Out! group was perfect," Councilwoman Libby Cowan said. "They did an excellent job. They had their facts together. They were well-spoken. I was very impressed." Cowan said she voted for the ordinance because she believed it would force merchants to ask for identification and deter kids from buying cigarettes if they had to ask for them. Despite the defeated measure, the teens still received a valuable hands-on civic lesson, Valenzuela said. "They know that there are steps out there they can take to bring about change," she said. Eva said she learned she could make a difference even though she's too young to vote. Cowan said the teens could learn something from their defeat. "I think it's important for them to know there are different views on how to resolve different issues," she said. |
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