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 Bailey D. is 16 years old and works to educate kids about the dangers of tobacco use. Her volunteer efforts illustrate some of the work involved in keeping cigarettes and other tobacco products out of the hands of kids. “Youth access” is one of the challenges facing states in their efforts to lower tobacco use among youth and is one of the areas examined in State of Tobacco Control 2007, which grades each state on their laws regarding youth access restrictions.
As a teen facilitator for the American Lung Association’s Teens Against Tobacco Use (TATU) Program in central Washington state, Bailey also participates in compliance checks with local law enforcement officers. Bailey’s work helps ensure that store clerks are checking for photo identification from younger customers who attempt to buy cigarettes. “It was nerve-wracking at first,” she said, “but then it got easier.”
Bailey explained, “More [clerks] ask for ID, but some that do end up selling because they just don’t read it correctly. Sometimes they make up stories to get out of suffering the consequences [from selling to minors]. I think that we really make it easy for stores not to sell because we give them our real ID.”
Despite some of the obstacles presented by her work, Bailey knows that her involvement with both the TATU program and compliance checks contributes enormously to preventing teens from smoking or being able to access tobacco products. |
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