[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 81 (Wednesday, June 11, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1182-E1183]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  STATEMENTS OF KRISTY LAVERY, TARO BEDELL, KELLY JENNINGS, AND TORI 
      TILLATOSN, ESSEX TECHNICAL CENTER, REGARDING TEENAGE SMOKING

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. BERNARD SANDERS

                               of vermont

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 11, 1997

  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Speaker, for the benefit of my colleagues I would 
like to have printed in the Record this statement by high school 
students from Essex Technical Center in Vermont, who were speaking at 
my recent town meeting on issues facing young people.

       Ms. Lavery. Teenage smoking is a pressing issue in today's 
     society. We feel there is a need with the tobacco industry to 
     try to stop the sale of tobacco to minors. In recent news a 
     big deal was made involving the advertisement of tobacco. For 
     many years the Joe Camel figure in Camel cigarettes has been 
     under the gun. The government believes that advertising is 
     promoting smoking to the young. This is a valid concern 
     considering 3,000 young people a day become a regular smoker 
     according to the 1994 report of the Institute of medicine 
     from the National Academy of Sciences. The number keeps 
     climbing and in 1995, 4.8 percent of students said they had 
     smoked in the last 30 days. Two years earlier in 1993, 3.5 
     percent said they had smoked in the last 30 days. Two years 
     earlier in 1993, 3.5 percent said they had smoked within the 
     last month. Most of these students admit to buying them 
     without showing proof of ID.
       Should the responsibility of cracking down on selling be 
     the sole job of the police? For now it is. It also has to do 
     with store owners and enforcement of punishment and fines. 
     Steps to put more responsibility on store owners are being 
     taken such as the new photo ID law and carding everyone who 
     looks under 27. As a 17-year-old I can tell you I have bought 
     cigarettes when I was younger and had no problem. I have 
     noticed a change in carding more now than I did when I was 
     15.
       The problem is that cigarettes are too accessible to kids. 
     We took a survey at Essex Technical Center on Do you smoke, 
     why or why not? 64 percent of the people said that they had 
     smoked. 35 percent said that they started because of peer 
     pressure. The majority of the non-smokers said they did not 
     smoke because it was gross and it kills you.
       We have a tape of interviews from students. We also have 
     those surveys that we did that we can give you and we did. 
     Perhaps we should also show you why the percentages chose to 
     smoke. I feel I have smoked previous in my young years and I 
     quit it because I do not feel I want to die like that. I 
     think it is a disgusting death.
       Ms. Bedel. Yes, it causes cancer, lung cancer, emphysema, 
     and for young kids it is mostly the fact that the health is--
     you know, in physical activity, you know, people aren't 
     involved in sports as much and I think it is social. It 
     really has to do with the social part of school.
       Ms. Lavery. A lot of it is peer pressure. They see their 
     friends doing it and everyone picks on you if you do not do 
     it and you get curious and you try doing it and then it is 
     very addictive.
       Ms. Bedell. I do not think it has to do with people picking 
     on other people about it, I think it has to do with like the 
     younger grades in the high school see seniors or juniors in 
     high school smoking and I think that that has a lot to do 
     with it. I know at the Tech Center we go to you are not 
     allowed to--well you cannot smoke on any school property 
     anymore and we have to go off school property to smoke, and I 
     think it is just--it is not a privilege because we do not 
     have a privilege, we have to leave, but I think the younger 
     students see it as a way to get out of school or a way to try 
     to fit in with the older kids. Government control over 
     smoking is going overboard but the money that is spent on 
     smoking is outrageous and kind of ridiculous considering the 
     fact that more and more teenagers are smoking each year. And 
     I agree with the new photo ID law, I am all for that, but I 
     do not think it is being watched enough, I do not think it is 
     being used in many cases in small businesses, and I think it 
     has to start at home, that the government has to take it out 
     of the police's hands and like storeowners' hands and put it 
     into the homes and you know, teach parents how to talk to 
     their kids about smoking because it starts at home.


[[Page E1183]]

     

                          ____________________