NO SMOKE: NEW ANTI-TOBACCO LAW TAKES EFFECT THIS MONTHS

Barlow's Self Service in Delta used to sell cigarettes to minors. But not anymore.

Since mid-July, clerks at the gas station and convenience store have refused to sell tobacco products to those under 18 years of age. Their policy reflects a new state law, which takes effect Aug. 28.

Lisa Curtis, manager of the store and a smoker, thinks the new law is a good idea.

"To be honest, if when I was 14 or 15, if somebody had refused to sell to me, maybe I wouldn't smoke now," she said.

The new law, she said, will "just make it harder for kids to smoke."

Curtis said that, in the past, Barlow's would not sell cigarettes to children, basically under the age of 16, unless they were purchasing the tobacco products for their parents.

In those cases, the children would generally bring along a note from their parents or the

parents would telephone ahead, she said. "Delta is a real small town and we kind of know everybody. We know who smokes," said Curtis.

The store, however, was routinely selling cigarettes to 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds, she said.

Missouri's new law prohibits the sale or distribution of tobacco products or rolling papers to persons under the age of 18, except in the case of the distribution of tobacco products by family members on private property.

Establishments that sell tobacco products over the counter or through vending machines must post signs spelling out the prohibition.

The law also requires a minimum of 70 percent of all enclosed work space in most public places and businesses be designated as non-smoking areas. The measure also applies to public transportation.

There are some exceptions, however. They include bars, restaurants that seat less than 50 people, bowling alleys, billiard parlors, tobacco stores, private homes and indoor sports arenas or stadiums with a seating capacity of more than 15,000.

It would also not apply to limousines and taxicabs, where the driver and all the passengers agree to allow smoking.

In addition, restaurants would be allowed to deal with the issue on the basis of "usual and customary demand," said Monica Eischen, tobacco control coordinator for the Missouri Department of Health.

"Basically, it allows them (restaurants) to decide on their own how much space they are going to designate as smoking and non-smoking areas," she explained.

"I think it is a very positive change for Missouri," Eischen said of the new law.

"Missouri was one of only six states that had no statewide clean-indoor-air laws. Missouri was one of only three states without restrictions on sales (of tobacco products) to minors.

"So we are actually catching up to the rest of the country," said Eischen.

Those who violate the law are subject to fines. The fine for selling tobacco to a minor ranges from $25 for a first offense to $250 for a third or subsequent offense.

A person who smokes in a non-smoking area or who allows someone to smoke in such an area can be fined a maximum of $200.

Eischen said that for many Missouri businesses, the easiest way to comply with the new law will be to ban smoking entirely. "It is probably going to eliminate smoking (in many cases) and put it outdoors."

Eischen said the new law will be enforced on a complaint basis. "There are not going to be any tobacco police coming out and knocking on anybody's door or business."

Robert Hendrix, president of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce, doesn't like the new law.

A cigarette smoker, Hendrix said, "It is just another method that the government has of taking the decision-making ability out of the hands of business and dictating it by fiat."

Hendrix said he believes a lot of businesses will ignore the indoor-air regulations. "I think a lot of them are going to say, `Heck with it.'"

Eischen said she believes the way to enforce the new law is through education. "We are hoping that the local police department, the local health department and the local prosecutor will sit down and talk to each other about the new law."

She argued that most parents would likely support the new law's ban on sale of tobacco products to minors. "I don't think any parent wants to see their kid start smoking."

She said a study conducted for the Missouri Department of Health in 1990 found that between 28 and 30 percent of the state's high school seniors smoked cigarettes.

Many Missouri smokers take up the habit as early as 10 years of age, Eischen said.

Morley Swingle, Cape Girardeau County's prosecuting attorney, praised the new law.

He said there's clear evidence that smoking is a health risk. "It is not just a matter of causing anyone an inconvenience, it really is a health issue," he maintained.

As to the no-smoking restrictions, Swingle said he felt most Missourians would try to comply with the law. "I anticipate that 99 percent of the people, when asked to stop smoking, will put out their cigarettes."

Swingle is well aware of the smoking issue. While in law school, he wrote an article about it, entitled "The Majestic Vice Versus the Right to Clean Air."

In Swingle's first case out of law school, he represented a St. Louis area non-smoker and employee of Southwestern Bell who sued for a smoke-free work place.

"There was always this haze of smoke and he was getting chest pains and getting sick all the time," recalled Swingle.

The case in the early 1980s marked only the second such case in the nation, Swingle said. "It has since been written about in various law journals."

Swingle said he lost the case. The judge, he said, concluded that medical testimony at that time was inconclusive as to whether it was harmful to breath second-hand smoke.

But today, he pointed out, the telephone building in question, now owned by AT&T, is a smoke-free facility.