Carmel Board Bans Tobacco Advertising

The Carmel Town Board has become the first in the area to pass legislation calling for the eventual elimination of tobacco advertising in local stores.

By a unanimous vote last week, the council approved the declaration following presentations by Putnam County Reality Check Coordinator, Diane Moore, and the coordinator of POW'R Against Tobacco, Anthony Massarelli.

Supervisor Kenneth Schmitt called the board's unanimous decision the "right thing to do. We all know the dangers of smoking tobacco. There are health risks associated with lighting up. More and more people are being diagnosed with health issues related to smoking. The board decided it would become proactive to reduce the number of people who continue to smoke by calling for the "elimination of tobacco advertising in businesses likely to be seen by children including exterior poles, windows facing out, interior-wall space, near candy displays and on counter tops."

Moore noted the "Point-of-Purchase Advertising" resolution "fosters community awareness by educating the public about how tobacco advertising targets the youth in the convenience stores they frequent. Research has shown that three out of four teens shop in these stores at least once a week."

Massarelli told the board the "Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids" reported recently that, "tobacco companies will spend $444 million in advertising this year across New York State, and more than $13 billion nationwide."

Massarelli said the town's goal would allow for a "partnership with storeowners who sell tobacco products by requesting that they 'voluntarily reduce or rearrange tobacco ads in their places of business. The Carmel Town Board has taken the lead in our attempt to reduce the estimated 24,000 young people in New York State who will become smokers this year."

The board also approved the "Periodicals Resolution," that calls for the elimination of tobacco ads in magazines found in school libraries.

Reality Check has called on magazine publishers to remove tobacco ads from publications sent to school libraries.

Moore noted in 2003, her organization worked with the New York State Attorney General and the publishers of Time, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, and People Magazine on an agreement that eliminates tobacco ads in school library versions of the publications: "Unfortunately, there are still a number of other magazines containing tobacco ads that are sitting on the shelves of our school libraries."

Once again by a unanimous vote, the town board voiced its opposition to tobacco advertising in magazines located in a "school setting."