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WOODRIDGE USES TOBACCO REGULATION
TO AID DRUG PREVENTION

By JOHN PERRY, Woodridge Village Administrator

We see many reminders each day that children in our communities are subjected to many pressures that might lead them to abuse drugs and alcohol. As municipal officials, we recognize that we should be active in efforts to protect our residents and their families against the loss that accompanies abuse of alcohol and drugs. Unfortunately, when we begin to examine choices for our community — prevention, enforcement, or treatment — we quickly face the reality that there are few dollars left for programs that go beyond our number one responsibility of policing our communities. Prevention and treatment take second place to enforcement. Woodridge saw a need to become active in substance abuse prevention. We initiated a successful low cost regulatory program — the licensing of tobacco sales.

What caused us to consider a local tobacco licensing law? In the late 1980s, we fielded many complaints from parents, teachers, and students about teen smoking and the ease with which teens could purchase cigarettes from Woodridge merchants. The Junior High School Principal found that students who were being disciplined for possession of cigarettes had made their purchase going to or from school. Woodridge Drug Abuse Resistance Education DARE Officer, Sgt. Bruce Talbot, campaigned with local merchants to stop selling to teenagers. After all, Illinois State Law prohibits the sale of tobacco products to anyone under the age of 18. Despite the campaign, including a letter from the Chief of Police threatening arrests for repeated violators, we found that more than 80% of Woodridge merchants continued to sell to underage students. The proof required for a violation of State law and the resultant penalties didn't justify aggressive municipal enforcement of the archaic State law.

Woodridge's Mayor and Board of Trustees chose to enact a strict local tobacco license law to curb illegal sales. The tobacco license ordinance requires each dealer to be licensed, prohibits sales within 100 feet of an education or recreation facility, requires posting of the tobacco sales area for the age limit, and limits access to tobacco vending machines by requiring a lock-out device. The ordinance also sets 18 as the minimum age to sell tobacco products. Minors who possess or attempt to purchase tobacco products are subject to the same penalties as merchants.

Enforcement and administration of the tobacco law is patterned after our very successful liquor license ordinance. Using 13-15 year old special agents, Woodridge conducts special audits or "stings" to assure compliance with the ordinance. First time violators receive a suspension and fine. Repeat violators receive progressively longer suspensions. Fortunately, we have uncovered few violators of the ordinance — about one in ten licensees.

Why is limiting the illegal sale of tobacco products important? More than 400,000 Americans die each year from smoking. Smoking usually begins during adolescence. A recent report in the American Journal of Public Health notes that "two recent studies (also) provide evidence that active enforcement of age restriction laws on tobacco sales can lower the prevalence of smoking among teenagers." Preventing development of the addiction can have important public health benefits. Two years after passage of the ordinance, we found smoking decreased from 15% to 5% at the Junior High level. Preliminary results from a comparison of Woodridge and non-Woodridge students at Downers Grove South High School, done by researchers at DePaul University, show similar reductions in smoking rates.

Sgt. Talbot makes a case for preventing illegal sales because cigarettes are a "gateway drug" for adolescents. Gateway drugs enable the user to transition to more serious substance abuse. The National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Household Survey on Drug Use have both conducted research which documents this relationship. Woodridge's tobacco license ordinance has attracted widespread inquiries from around the country reflecting the scope and seriousness of the underlying problem. As the Journal of Public Health noted, ". . . policymakers should consider implementing various legislative and economic measures such as banning cigarette vending machines and raising tobacco excise taxes."

To paraphrase that old adage — a few dollars spent on regulating tobacco sales may save millions on policing and treatment.

March 1994 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 5


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