Tobacco companies thrive on youngsters

Tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds didn't pay much attention to the section of the 1998 settlement that prohibits the tobacco companies from taking "any action, directly or indirectly, to target youth."

It advertised such brands as Winston, Salem and Camel in Spin, Vibe, Hot Rod and Rolling Stone. These are not your grandmother's magazines.

The state of California caught on and sued the company. A judge just fined R.J. Reynolds $20 million and ordered the company to take "reasonable measures" to reduce youth exposure to tobacco ads.

R.J. Reynolds, which has 25 percent of the American market, vows to appeal the ruling, saying it may violate the company's First Amendment right to free expression.

"It sets a very dangerous precedent to sanction somebody $20 million for simply exercising a constitutional right to talk to adult smokers," said R.J. Reynolds attorney Jeh Charles Johnson.

Well, there's a difference between political speech and commercial speech, and the courts, in some cases, have upheld decisions to restrict commercial speech when the public interest is at stake. This is a public health issue and should be treated as such by the courts.

As for taking "reasonable measures" to stop youth exposure to tobacco ads, we would hope the 46 states that signed the agreement, including Hawai'i, come up with a more tangible definition of what that standard should be. There's a lot at stake.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 80 percent of adult smokers acquired the habit before the age of 18. Moreover, every day, nearly 5,000 people under 18 try their first cigarette.

Tobacco companies have largely disregarded the no-targeting-youth condition of the $246 billion settlement, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The study found that two years after the settlement, 11 of 15 cigarette brands still reached more than two-thirds of young people. And the three brands most popular with young people — Marlboro, Newport and Camel — devoted the lion's share of their advertising budgets to youth-oriented magazines.

Magazine advertising accounts for about 5 percent of the industry's total marketing expenditures. Other marketing tools that target youth include coupons, Internet advertising and sponsorship of entertainment. But those venues are rarely monitored.

The bottom line is, states such as Hawai'i that signed the tobacco settlement are going to have to scrutinize advertising and other marketing venues to ensure that the tobacco companies are holding up their end of the bargain.