PROPOSED TEEN TOBACCO BAN GOES TOO FAR

The Cape Girardeau Youth Advisory Council is crafting an ordinance to make it illegal for teen-agers to possess tobacco.

It is already illegal for cigarettes to be sold to our young people, but that law doesn't completely curb younger smokers.

Whoa. Stop just a minute. The smoke should settle here before the city proceeds any further. Good ideas don't always make good law. This is a perfect example.

Cape Girardeau should put the brakes on this possession ordinance. The proposal would be burdensome to enforce. Is that how we want our police officers spending their time? Hardly.

The ordinance would turn far too many teen-agers into criminals. It wouldn't stop them -- it would move many of these kids underground.

Smoking is not a crime. It is just a bad idea in terms of healthy lifestyles.

Teen-aged smoking is a concern, both locally and across the nation. The trends are both puzzling and astonishing.

Despite the information glut about the health hazards of smoking, the number of teen-age smokers is on the rise. For the fifth consecutive year, smoking rates increased for students in grades 8, 10 and 12.

The Center for Disease Control estimates that 3,000 teen-agers smoke their first cigarette each day. About 22 percent of high-school seniors smoke daily.

Teen-agers receive mixed signals about smoking. Many of their parents smoke. And Hollywood and advertising still project a cool image when it comes to cigarettes.

The giant tobacco settlement will pump millions of dollars into additional education efforts for youngsters. That should help.

And there's certainly nothing wrong with cracking down on the places that continue to sell tobacco to minors. That should be a crime.

Parental attitudes about smoking and drinking are key influences as well. This is a matter that parents should help their children decide -- not the City Council or police.

In the end, the price of smoking may be a determining factor for youthful budgets as Congress looks at substantially increasing cigarette taxes.

Teen-agers shouldn't smoke. But our police department has far more important things to do than arrest teen-agers for possession of cigarettes. It is time to take a reality check and extinguish this effort.