TEEN TOBACCO LAW PROPOSAL STIRS DEBATE

Opponents of a Cape Girardeau ordinance that would make it illegal for minors to possess tobacco say the measure violates their rights.

Proponents of the measure say they're trying to protect children from the dangers of smoking.

But action on proposed changes to the city's tobacco licensing ordinance will have to wait until next month.

The city's Youth Advisory Council, which is crafting the revised ordinance, didn't have a quorum Friday afternoon, and no action could be taken on the measure.

Five members were needed for a vote, but only three were present.

The advisory council will meet again Feb. 6 to act on the measure.

It's already illegal for businesses to sell tobacco products to anyone under 18.

The proposed changes to the city's licensing ordinance would make it illegal for minors to possess tobacco and would set up a graduated system of license suspensions for businesses caught selling tobacco to minors.

The possession clause was added in November at the recommendation of Police Chief Rick Hetzel, who said the ordinance would be "extremely difficult" to enforce without it.

The Youth Advisory Council will make a recommendation on the measure. The City Council has the final say on it.

A group of teen-agers appeared at Friday's meeting to protest the proposal, but never got a chance.

The teens told a reporter that the proposed ordinance, if approved, would curtail their rights.

"We feel that we have the right to choose whether or not we can smoke," said Erin Christopher, 14.

Christopher said she doesn't smoke, and called her protest of the proposed ordinance "a matter of principle."

"It's not about smoking," she said.

Several of Christopher's companions agreed.

"We think we're responsible for our own actions, and no one else can tell us what to do," said Candace Palermo, also 14.

If teens are old enough to be fined or jailed for violating the law, she said, "then aren't we old enough to take responsibility for ourselves?"

Palermo added, "The government shouldn't act like our parents."

Christopher conceded that smoking "does have long-term effects."

But Wendy Stott, 15, said, "It causes you to lose taste buds. Overeating will kill you, too. Are you going to make that illegal?"

Members of the Youth Advisory Council said they haven't heard much on the issue from their peers.

"Most of them don't really know that we're the ones that are doing it," said Jean Meyer, 17.

Ben Edwards, 18, the advisory council's unofficial chairman, said that since it's already illegal for minors to smoke, "I don't think it's a right that they have in the first place."

The ordinance the advisory council is working on, he said, "would only strengthen" existing law.

"That being said, I don't feel like I want to punish anyone," Edwards said. "I don't want people to thing this is something that I'm doing to punish all of my friends who think it's cool to smoke."

Edwards said the advisory council is gearing the ordinance more toward "little kids."

Some people have complained that the proposed ordinance detracts from parents' authority over their teen-aged children.

But, Edwards said, not all parents can stop their children from smoking, and not all parents try to stop teens from smoking.

"If they can do that, that's great. I applaud that," he said. "This ordinance isn't for them. Congratulations to them. I think this ordinance is for people who can't teach their children not to smoke."

Mayor Al Spradling III has said he is against the ordinance, saying it adds another layer of bureaucracy and will be a burden to enforce.

"If it's not enforced, than it will just be more clutter in the books and I can see his reasoning," Edwards said. "I don't agree with it, but I can definitely see how he would think that."