Anti-smoking work lauded

Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna said Monday to keep cigarettes out of the hands of kids, he will ask the 2009 Legislature to ban the shipment of cigarettes from mail order or Internet sales to anyone other than licensed wholesalers or retail stores.

A state law that had required shipping companies to verify the age of someone receiving an order of cigarettes was negated by the U.S. Supreme Court, he said, which struck down a similar Maine law in February.

"So, we're just going to make it illegal to sell it online altogether," he announced to students at Bush Middle School in Tumwater, where he, Gov. Chris Gregoire and Health Secretary Mary Selecky led an assembly to mark the 10th anniversary of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement.

"Anyone here use the Internet?" he asked Bush's seventh and eighth graders. "Evidence shows that young people like all of you are on the Internet more, and on your computers more and on video games more than you're watching TV. So, the tobacco companies are shifting more and more to the Internet as a place to market it, if they can get away with it, and sell it."

He said after the assembly that a total ban on the direct shipping of cigarettes to consumers is in place in six other states. The proposal would allow retail stores and wholesalers to order and receive cigarettes.

Washington, Maine and other states had attempted to sidestep the ability of children to order cigarettes over the Internet by requiring shipping companies to verify that the recipient of the package was 18 or older.

But U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous decision in February was that the verification requirement was a regulation on the shipping companies, which the states are forbidden to enact by federal law. Alcohol is one exception to that rule.

The Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement between the U.S. tobacco companies and most of the states requires the tobacco companies to make annual payments to the states in perpetuity, yielding $206 billion during the first 25 years of the settlement. Much of Washington's money is targeted toward smoking prevention and cessation.

Washington uses about $28 million a year toward anti-smoking programs, including the Quit Line, local and school programs, and the public awareness campaign, Department of Health spokesman Tim Church said.

The public awareness campaign costs about $7 million a year, he said.

Students at Bush also got a chance to participate in the Department of Health's anti-smoking advertising campaign "No Stank You."

Each television commercial in the campaign uses about 100 photographs of students in various poses, made to look like animation.

Seventh-grader Shawna Ledgerwood, 12, who volunteered to have her picture taken, said the commercials are memorable.

"I'm excited because I've seen them on TV before," she said. "When I heard there was a chance that we could be on TV, I had my mom sign (the permission slip) and she was excited for me."

Seventh-grader Tanner Yost, 12, said he wanted to try to be in one of the commercials. He said the one that he remembers the most is the one that featured kids running away from a large hairy tongue, which can be caused by smoking.

"The message is that you're running away from tobacco," he said.

Venice Buhain covers education for The Olympian. She can be reached at 360-754-5445 or vbuhain@theolympian.com.