| As a parent and a resident of East Longmeadow, I was dismayed and greatly disappointed to learn the rate of tobacco sales to minors in this town as stated in the Jan. 26, 2007 article "Illegal tobacco sales up sharply" in the Springfield Republican. According to this article, of the 55 towns in western Massachusetts where compliance checks were conducted in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2006, East Longmeadow had the third highest rate of sales, being "beaten" only by the tiny towns of Hancock and Warren. Of the 81 attempts to buy tobacco by teens under age 18 recorded by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, East Longmeadow merchants sold 37 times, or 45.6 percent of the time. By contrast, teens were able to buy only 10 percent of the time in Longmeadow, 21.4 percent in Wilbraham, and 25 percent in Springfield! I also want to point out that we were more than twice the statewide rate of 18.2 percent. What does this say about some of the tobacco merchants in our town? To me, it shows a complete disregard for the well being of our children in the interest of personal profit. At this point, most people know that the great majority of adult smokers began smoking in their teens, before they could legally be sold cigarettes. And while purchasing cigarettes is only one way that teens get access to tobacco, it is one that can (and should) be stopped to a large extent. After all, nothing has changed. Tobacco is still the leading cause of preventable death and disease in this country. And young people will continue to think that they somehow will beat the odds and will be able to quit anytime they want. Teens know which places will sell cigarettes to them and which will not. It is up to owners and managers to change that; to train all their staff to ask for ID's from anyone who looks under 27 years of age and to refuse to sell to anyone who does not have proper ID. And it is up to us as residents to insist that merchants do not sell tobacco to teens . and not buy any items, (gas, convenience foods, etc,) from those that do. If they still sell, we should insist that their licenses to sell tobacco be revoked permanently. Many people choose to live in East Longmeadow because it is perceived as a great place to raise kids; a community where families, schools and businesses all care about their friends and neighbors. These statistics do not bear that out. Please don't let East Longmeadow remain at the top of the failure rate. It is a distinction we cannot be proud of. It really will translate into tobacco addiction and disease for many of the young people now living in our community. Janet Grant East Longmeadow |
