Bloomberg Wins Latest Battle, Smoking Age Now 21

STAFF WRITER

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has signed legislation that will raise the age to buy cigarettes to 21 and older, but a new report says tobacco companies are still marketing their product to teens.

The New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) has released “Overexposed.” The not-for-profit advocacy organization surveyed three neighborhoods in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens and observed the number of tobacco advertisements in the area.

Megan Ahearn, NYPIRG program coordinator, said the data from the report shows that tobacco companies are finding ways to market their products effectively, even with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cracking down on cigarette ads.

“There’s no more of the large billboards or tobacco commercials on TV,” said Ahearn. “What we’re seeing is now these advertisements are coming in on store corners in the large four feet high from the ground to above-your-waist signs, like mini-billboards.”

Ahearn adds that hanging signs from the ceiling or on walls near the register and placing the products near popular items such as candy and magazines targets young consumers.

Congress and the FDA have placed stricter regulations on the tobacco industry’s advertisements. In 2010, the Tobacco Control Act banned cigarette companies from sponsoring sporting and entertainment events. The legislation also limited how tobacco companies make advertisements. For example, audio ads can no longer use music or sound effects.

The New York Public Interest Research Group’s report surveyed a neighborhood in Tremont less than a mile away from the Fordham University Rose Hill Campus and found 12 corner stores with marketing on the exterior of their shops.

Ahearn said New York City leaders should step up to keep tobacco marketing away from teens.

“One thing that NYPIRG is hoping to happen in New York City is looking to reduce marketing around schools, where students are walking every single day,” said Ahearn.

She adds that stores could keep the products hidden behind the counter, possibly covered by a curtain, so teenagers do not see them when visiting local businesses. When Bloomberg crafted the bill that eventually raised the age to buy cigarettes to 21 and up, he pushed to have tobacco hidden so children and teens would not be exposed to the products.

Bloomberg wound up dropping that part of the legislation after heavy lobbying from a tobacco industry-backed organization. According to The New York Times, the Save Our Store coalition argued that keeping cigarettes in a hidden location would cost the city jobs and hurt businesses.

Sheelah Feinberg, executive director of the New York City Coalition for a Smoke Free City, said tobacco marketing inside stores can influence teens to smoke tobacco products.

“Right now, when you walk into a convenience store or a drugstore you are bombarded with the [tobacco] products and the marketing of it as well,” said Feinberg. “If you see an image long enough, it creeps into your mind, and that starts to seem interesting.”

According to the NYC Coalition for a Smoke Free City, 20,000 high school students currently smoke cigarettes, and one-third of them will die prematurely as a direct result of tobacco usage.

Feinberg said that raising the price of cigarettes is an enforcement mechanism that successfully prevents teens from purchasing.

“[The NYC Coalition for a Smoke Free City has] learned that price increases really deter youth smoking because, quite simply, it’s hard to afford cigarettes when it’s $10.50,” she said.

The City Council has recently enacted a law that will set a minimum price for a pack of cigarettes or cigarillos to $10.50 per pack. In 2010, New York passed a tax on cigarettes to make the Empire State the most expensive place to buy a pack.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

According to the NYC Coalition for a Smoke Free City, 20,000 — not 18,000 — high school students currently smoke cigarettes.