Should teen smoking be banned?
On my list of irritating public displays, in addition to ignorant people throwing trash out of cars onto the highways, is seeing young children puffing away on cigarettes while walking down the sidewalk. Contrary to what their undeveloped brains may believe, the image they create is not one of a sophisticated or macho adult. Instead, it brands them as the immature, mentally slow people they are.
Even before it was against the law for stores to sell cigarettes to minors, some kids would sneak behind the house for their first smoke, which resulted in a bright green face and instant nausea.
Our lungs were sending a message years before the surgeon general printed those warnings on cigarette packages. That hacking cough was telling you inhaling noxious fumes is not healthy for your lungs or the rest of your body.
Of course, one of the reasons some young people like to be seen in public smoking a cigarette is that they know it upsets and annoys adults. It’s part of the rebellion stage some young folks seem to pass through.
The crackdown in recent years on teen smoking has created laws which penalize store owners for selling cigarettes to minors. A bill in the Pennsylvania Legislature proposes to add criminal penalties for teen-agers found guilty of illegally buying cigarettes with a fake ID.
Perhaps the law should go one step further. If it’s illegal for a store to sell cigarettes to a minor, and if a law is adopted to provide penalties for teens who buy cigarettes, is it reasonable to consider fining those teens who are caught smoking cigarettes in public?
The laws controlling the sale of beer to minors extends to all stages of use. Stores cannot sell beer to a minor, minors cannot buy beer, and if a minor is caught with an open container of beer in public he or she is subject to a fine.
The ultimate authority over children should be their parents, but some kids will always take advantage of mom or dad’s absence to engage in juvenile behavior. A no-smoking law for teens could be another tool for parents to use to safeguard the health and safety of their children.
If the law prohibited minors from smoking cigarettes, it would give local police and security cops some influence in controlling the activities of minors at their favorite gathering spots, such as the entrance areas to stores.
It also would give police legal authority to cite minors caught smoking on a public sidewalk or street. As it stands now, sometimes you will see kids smoking in pubic who haven’t even reached their teen years yet.
No one wants to penalize kids just because their lifestyle choices annoy and irritate adults. Maybe someone can think of a good reason to allow a teen-ager to smoke a cigarette in public. If not, then it just might be time to consider such a regulation, for health reasons if nothing else.
After they reach adulthood will be soon enough for teens to make such choices.
Mike Ellis is the editor of the Herald-Standard. His e-mail address is: mellis@heraldstandard.com.