Issues for discussion – what do you think?
We need to stop sending mixed messages: Most schools have strict no-smoking rules on school grounds and in 2006, the Victorian Government made it illegal for children to smoke at government-sponsored music and dance events. But there are no age restrictions on children smoking in the wider community.
The need for less talk and more action: Governments throughout Australia spend millions of dollars on advertising and education campaigns to encourage addicts to quit smoking and highlight the threats to community health. We tell our children that smoking is bad for them and we make it illegal for a shopkeeper to sell cigarettes to minors, but they remain a legal product for all ages.
Current programs to reduce smoking aren’t working on teenagers: Experts agree that delaying the age that a person starts smoking will mean that they are less likely to begin in the first place. Current efforts have been effective in reducing the smoking rate, with the number of Victorian adult smokers falling by almost half from 31% of the population in 1984 to just 17% by 2003.
However, the rate of teenage smokers aged 16-17 years fell marginally, from 32% to 28% during the same period.
Society has an obligation to protect its children: There is no credible argument against the fact that cigarette smoking is harmful to the human body. As a society, we often legislate to protect children from harm until such time as they are able to make an informed decision.
Banning the possession, use, purchase and supply of tobacco products to minors is not an infringement of their civil rights – it’s the hallmark of a responsible society making an effort to protect its children until they are in a better position to make their own informed decision.
Underage smoking bans will work: More than 40 states in the USA have underage smoking laws and various research teams have reported a decline in teen smoking where the laws are strictly enforced along with a range of other anti-smoking measures – many of which are already in place in Victoria.
In 2005, Leonard A. Jason, Ph.D., led a team of researchers from DePaul University that studied whether restricting minors' access to cigarettes and fining them for possessing tobacco products have a significant influence on their rates of smoking, and whether younger people are more influenced by these policies than older minors.
Jason and his team found that the percentage of youth who use tobacco increases as they get older, but that the combination of restricting access and imposing fines for possession reduces the rate of increase. They also found that higher levels of retail tobacco availability were associated with whether youth initiated smoking but not whether they continued smoking.
Australians want action: The 2004 ‘National Drug Strategy’ household survey of 30,000 people found that 89.6% of Australians wanted stricter enforcement of laws against selling tobacco to minors and 87.2% supported stricter penalties for sales to children.
Although the survey did not extend to the issue of the actual use of tobacco by minors, it is reasonable to infer a similar level of community opposition to such activities. In any case, The Nationals are seeking feedback from the community before taking its proposals any further in State Parliament.
Enforcement and management of any new laws needs to be debated: The types of penalties and the methods of enforcement that would be applied to any new laws regarding underage smoking need to be the subject of community debate.
In some jurisdictions, more emphasis is placed on diversion programs where offenders are required to attend an authorised seminar which highlights the health and economic costs of cigarette smoking.
On-the-spot fines are applied in other jurisdictions in the USA, along with community based orders or demerit points which lead to restrictions on vehicle licensing. The Nationals are seeking your views on how any new laws should be enforced and the types of penalties that would be appropriate.
It should be noted that the key aim of any legislation should be to reduce the incidence of teenage smoking – not raise revenue for governments from an excessive on-the-spot fine program. The enforcement measures would need to be fair and balanced and where possible, avoid building resentment between authorities and young people.
The Nationals are proposing a three-stage model, broadly along the lines of:
- Education and information: Continued support for anti-smoking education programs with a focus on deterring young people from adopting the habit and information on the health risks and the penalties involved for offenders.
- Diversion programs: Requiring offenders to attend a specifically designed program where experts explain the health, social and economic costs of smoking.
- On-the-spot fines and community orders: Repeat offenders can be fined or required to undertake community work by the court system.
Making new laws won’t completely solve the problem: New laws won’t make the problem disappear but given the failure of existing measures to reduce the level of youth smoking, we need to use every device at our disposal. The hard-hitting advertising campaigns and opportunities to help people quit the habit will need to continue in the future as part of a multi-faceted approach to the problem.
A study in Florida USA during the 1990s (Duval County Health Department) found that ‘possession enforcement as a component of comprehensive tobacco control, appears to help reduce youth tobacco use and may be a critical component of the most successful youth tobacco prevention program documents in the previous decade’.
The new laws would be a component of ongoing measures to reduce the incidence of cigarette smoking in our community.
The need for positive role models: In a bid to counter the ‘smoking is cool’ image, The Nationals support the employment of appropriate role models as anti-smoking ambassadors.
The ‘ambassadors’ would need to be carefully chosen to reflect the target age group and would be funded by the State Government.
What’s the big problem anyway: Cigarette smoking has enormous social and economic costs. More than 15,000 Australians died from smoking-related diseases last year – more than the combined totals from road accidents, alcohol-abuse, murder, AIDS and diabetes. It is the single biggest preventable cause of cancer and heart disease.
The impact on the health system is enormous with 1.5 million patient bed days attributed to smoking. The entire cost to the nation is estimated at more than $20 billion per year.
It is estimated that nearly half of all long-term smokers will be killed by tobacco-related diseases and more than 100 Australian infants and young children a year, die from causes linked with passive or second-hand smoking.
Banning smoking in cars has strong support: There is already evidence that the overwhelming majority of people believe that smoking should be banned – even in private vehicles – whenever children are present. Quit Victoria released figures in July 2007 which indicated that nine out of 10 Victorian smokers think that smoking in cars should be banned when children are present.
Quit Victoria has argued that such a ban would help to protect children from the dangerous health effects of second-hand smoke.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Subject to feedback from the community, The Nationals will seek to introduce a Private Members Bill in State Parliament which legislates to provide the following new measures:
- Making it illegal for people under the age of 18 years to purchase, use or possess tobacco products in a public place; and
- Banning smoking in vehicles when a person under the age of 18 is present.
We want to know what you think about these proposals
Do you support the proposals?
Are these proposed laws going too far?
Or maybe they don’t go far enough?
Do you think they will help to reduce the number of young smokers?
Or will teenagers consider it a challenge and flout the laws?
HAVE YOUR SAY BEFORE MARCH 31, 2008
You can respond online at www.vic.nationals.org.au/policyfeedback.asp
OR
Send your comments to:
Mr Darren Chester
Chief of Staff
The Nationals
Parliament House
Melbourne, Vic, 3000
Click here to download this page as a PDF (66 KB)
Click here to download Damian Drum's message as a PDF (30 KB)
Click here to leave feedback on the Healthy Kids "Kick Butts" Policy
ONLINE POLL - "Do you support The Nationals' plan to ban cigarette smoking in cars when a child is present?"
