Help Combat Underage Smoking

HELP COMBAT UNDERAGE SMOKING

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HON. JOHN LEWIS

OF GEORGIA

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Friday, November 7, 1997

Mr. LEWIS of Georgia. Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing legislation that would place a $500 per year tax on vending machines that sell cigarettes and other tobacco products. It is my hope that this tax will discourage the use of these vending machines and recoup some of the costs that these vending machines inflict upon society by making it easier for our children to illegally purchase and use tobacco products. Smoking and second-hand tobacco smoke are known class A carcinogens. In fact, scientists recently identified the chemical process through which cigarette smoke causes cancer. Smoking also causes heart disease and birth defects among the children of women smokers. Cigarettes kill more than 434,000 Americans each year. Tobacco addiction costs the American public more than $65 billion each year in health care costs and lost productivity. The saddest fact to me is that 90 percent of smokers began smoking when they were children--most started before they were 16 years old. Everyday--every single day--3,000 young people began smoking. All States have laws restricting tobacco sales to children below a certain age. While these laws can be effective when a sales clerk is selling the tobacco, they do little to prevent minors from purchasing tobacco from vending machines. My legislation recognizes the insidious nature of tobacco vending machines by placing a $500 per year tax on vending machines that sell tobacco products. Hopefully, this tax will help discourage tobacco companies from selling their goods through vending machines and discourage our children from smoking; $500 is a small price to pay to protect our children from emphysema, cancer, and the other ravages of tobacco.