New effort to curb teen smoking
What an adult sees, and what a young person sees, may be very different in a store. Now, Tobacco Free Onondaga County is asking parents to look at store shelves and checkout counters as a child might, to see how tobacco companies are marketing to younger audiences.
Jackie Shostack, with Tobacco Free Onondaga County says tobacco companies spend a million dollars a day in New York State to market to young people as 'replacement' smokers. She says the latest changes involve packaging--cigarettes look more like gum and candy, as a way of attracting younger users.
Shostack says what's being done is not illegal, but that parents should be aware, to help their children make wiser decisions about what they're buying.
