Youth Opinion : Will Tobacco Become the Marijuana of the Millenium?

President Clinton has proposed eliminating most vending machine sales of cigarettes, tighter enforcement of prohibitions on sales to minors and additional curbs on advertising as ways to reduce teen smoking, which is on the increase. JAMES BLAIR and MARY WENTZ spoke with smoker and non-smoker teens about the proposals. *

WENDY GONZALEZ

17, senior, Marshall High School, Los Angeles

If [the President] tries to be too restrictive, it will just become like an underground thing--even more popular among teen-agers, just like weed. They’ll want to do it because it’s cool, because it’s what parents don’t want [them] to do, because it’s what’s against the law.

My friends smoke. You see them outside school smoking at 7:30 in the morning right before they go in, and later smoking at lunch. Every time you go in the bathroom you can smell the smoke. After school. It’s all the time.

It bothers me because I don’t like the smell of smoke, especially when I’m eating. It’s really annoying. I respect that they want to smoke; that’s their choice. But they should go where I can’t smell it.

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CHAILLE STIDHAM

17, senior, Hollywood High School

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When I started smoking three years ago, I didn’t pay attention to what the ads said. I didn’t start smoking because Joe Camel says it’s cool and I didn’t start smoking because Kate Moss walked down the runway with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth. I smoke Parliament Light 100s because, in my mind, they do the least damage.

I don’t know why I started smoking. I regret starting and I’m trying to stop right now because it’s just not a cool thing to do, you know? It’s disgusting.

Eliminating vending machines will make a big difference, because people can go anywhere, like a restaurant, that has vending machines and they can get cigarettes without carding. But if you card people [in stores], all they have to do is ask their 18-year-old friends to get the cigarettes for them.

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CHRISTINE KEGEYAN

14, 9th grade, Sun Valley Middle School

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I lost my father, someone I looked up to, at an early age because he began smoking at the age of 7. He died of lung cancer and seeing what he went through after smoking for about 20 to 30 years, I couldn’t smoke. I don’t even want to pick up ashes.

I have nothing against the tobacco company itself; it’s just that [the smoking age] should be 18. It’s like that now, but it doesn’t seem strict. People my age have been smoking already for about two years. The reason this is happening is because they haven’t been strict about the law.

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LUISA PALMERO

17, senior, Los Angeles High School

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My dad and my brother smoke and I just really hate it. Because of my dad and my brother, I’m really against anybody smoking at all.

I’m all for [President Clinton’s program]. Whenever anybody’s smoking in public, I do my best to show them that I don’t like it. I start coughing in their faces because I think it’s really rude.

We can’t tell everybody that they can’t buy cigarettes in the stores or that you can’t advertise them, because we live in a capitalist society. I just think they should ban any smoking in public--like what they did with restaurants and public buildings.

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JORGAN HARRELL

16, junior year school not chosen,

Los Angeles

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I began smoking at age 14. I smoke Camel cigarettes because of Joe Camel--he looks cool. At 14, all my friends smoked Camels, then we switched to Marlboro.

I’ve tried to quit twice with the aid of Nicorette gum, a prescription medication, but haven’t been successful. My addiction wasn’t just the nicotine--I realized that I am addicted to holding the cigarette.

Clinton’s plan won’t change anything. Business is slow now and merchants want to sell product. Especially the small liquor stores will sell you cigarettes.

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RYAN TODD

17, Park Hill School, Canoga Park

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I was 13 when I began smoking. My mother and my friends all smoked. I tried to quit with nicotine patches and gum but that didn’t work. Probably the longest I’ve gone without a smoke is two months, when I was locked up at 16. You can’t smoke in the [juvenile] hall. Marlboro is my favorite brand. The Marlboro man died from lung cancer but I still smoke. Clinton will not be able to stop minors from smoking. If I run into a problem buying cigarettes I get someone else to buy them for me and I give them a tip. Maybe people will get seeds and grow their own tobacco. I have grown my own tobacco and it’s really smooth, much better than the commercial brands.

MARY WENTZ