Students take anti-smoking campaign to streets

<br>OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ About 200 chanting, sign-carrying student protesters marched downtown Thursday, demanding that tobacco companies stop targeting children in advertising and marketing. <br><br>``Smoke,

Friday, September 27th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ About 200 chanting, sign-carrying student protesters marched downtown Thursday, demanding that tobacco companies stop targeting children in advertising and marketing.

``Smoke, choke and die. Big tobacco lies,'' read a sign carried by one student. ``Tobacco is wacko for everyone,'' read a sign carried by Ben McCaslin, 12, of Guthrie.

Teen smoking is a greater problem in Oklahoma than most other states.

Four out of 10 Oklahoma high school students use tobacco, giving Oklahoma the sixth-highest ranking nationally for this statistic, according to a 1999 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A U.S. Food and Drug Administration study in 2000 showed that Oklahoma was second only to Georgia in illegal tobacco sales to minors.

Participants in the protest, sponsored by Students Working Against Tobacco, chanted, ``Whatta we want to be _ tobacco free,'' as they marched four blocks from the Bricktown Ballpark to a trade show for convenience store owners.

``I'm here to represent those who have died from smoking,'' said Hannah Willsey, 14, of Tulsa, who was dressed in black, except for white makeup on her face that began to drip in the sun.

Maekala Mims, a high school senior who is co-chairman of Students Working Against Tobacco, said store owners should not place tobacco items near candy and other products bought by children.

The tobacco items are sometimes stolen by children, since they cannot legally buy them, she said.

``It's basically subsidized shoplifting,'' said Doug Matheny of the Oklahoma Department of Health.

He said easy access to tobacco products, a low tax rate that keeps cigarette prices down, a large population of adult smokers and few restrictions on smoking in public places combine to boost Oklahoma's tobacco-use rate among young people.

Ken Nance, state Capitol lobbyist for two tobacco companies, said it was ``ridiculous and silly'' to contend that the store displays are aimed at recruiting young smokers or enticing them to steal.

Nance said potato chip companies and others pay for display space to increase sales and all prefer to be as close to the cash register as possible.

Inside the convention center, Chanda Cornish, organizer of the trade show, said she was not even aware that the protest was under way outside. She said the convention featured two programs aimed at preventing underage smoking.

Alice Greenwald, owner of a convenience store in Carnegie, said she keeps her cigarettes in an overhead display and is careful to check identifications to make sure no one under 21 buys tobacco products.

She said there is a problem of adults buying cigarettes for teenagers and placing restrictions on displays won't stop that.

``If they're going to smoke, they'll find a way to do it,'' she said.

Another SWAT official, Vershal Malhotra, a student at Enid High School, said one goal of the organization is to persuade lawmakers to change a state law that does not penalize convenience store owners for selling cigarettes to minors.

Malhotra said state law punishes cashiers, who do not financially benefit from tobacco sales. ``The law needs to be changed to penalize the owners,'' he said.