YOUNG SMOKERS AT RISK: NEW LAW BANS POSSESSION OF TOBACCO BY ANYONE YOUNGER THAN 18

A Missouri law banning anyone under 18 from possessing tobacco products takes effect at the end of the month, but police may have a tough time enforcing it.

Cape Girardeau police Cpl. Ike Hammonds said enforcing the law probably won't be high on the city's list of priorities. "We are simply too busy," Hammonds said. "We don't have the manpower to concentrate in that area," he said.

"No matter what the law says, If I want to smoke I'm going to smoke," said a 17-year-old girl from Sikeston, Mo., lighting up outside the mall in Cape Girardeau.

She said she purchases her cigarettes in Sikeston and has never been asked for identification.

The girl, along with her best friend, a 16-year-old from Benton, Mo., had just picked up her senior class photographs.

Both girls smoke but asked that their names not be used because their parents aren't aware of it.

The Benton teen said she has asthma but started smoking about a year ago. She said her mom, an older sister and brother all smoke.

It is already illegal in the state for minors to purchase tobacco products. Businesses caught selling to teens face heavy fines.

New provisions to laws regulating tobacco make it illegal for teens to be in possession of tobacco. Exceptions to the law allow for teens working in jobs like cashiers to sell cigarettes across the counter.

Roadblock in Nevada

Nevada, Mo., has had a similar ordinance since 1999. Police Capt. Norman Turner said his officers hit a roadblock when they tried to enforce the rule.

"Initially, we were doing really good," said Turner. "People would call in and report kids smoking on the way home from school, and we'd go by and write them up."

The problems came when the juvenile courts refused jurisdiction over tobacco-related crimes.

"We could write tickets to 17-year-olds, but we didn't know what to do with anybody younger," Turner said.

Finally, a municipal judge allowed the officers to write tickets to the younger children who then had to appear in court with their parents.

Turner said the city has probably written fewer than 100 tickets since the law took effect.

If a juvenile is being arrested for something else and happens to be smoking or have cigarettes or chewing tobacco, he may face an added citation, said Cape Girardeau's Hammonds.

Consumer responsibility

Still, the officer said he's glad to see some responsibility land at the consumer's doorstep. "For years, the law only dealt with the seller," Hammonds said.

He said the issue of smoking should be addressed in the home. "Most kids already think smoking is against the law," Hammonds said. "If you're already addicted by the time your 13 or 14, that shows a problem with the parents."

Under the new law, minors caught smoking are guilty of an infraction and will have their cigarettes or tobacco products confiscated and possibly be fined.

A second violation means mandatory attendance at a tobacco education or smoking cessation program, for which the defendant will have to pay. The defendant is also responsible for court costs.

The teens interviewed Wednesday said they plan to quit smoking soon, but it's not the changing law that prompted them.

"My grandpa has throat cancer, and watching him die is awful," the Sikeston girl said.

Her friend said she wants to quit because it makes playing on the basketball team too difficult. "They make us run sprints, and I just want to die after awhile," she said.

The high costs of cigarettes are another incentive to quit.

"It's like $3.90 a pack," the Sikeston girl said. "Between gas and cigarettes, I'm broke."