[THE PROBLEM: TOBACCO PRODUCT MARKETING AT THE POS]

[Organization name & date]

The Problem

Youth Smoking is Still a Problem

• In Vermont• 13% of high school students smoke2

• 11% of male high school students who use smokeless or spit tobacco3

• 24% of 18-24 year olds smoke (16,000 smokers)4

• 36% of 25-29 years old smoke (12,000 smokers)5

• 700 kids (under 18) become new daily smokers each year6

• 12,000 kids now under 18 and alive in Vermont will ultimately die prematurely from smoking7

POS Marketing is a Major Cause of Youth Smoking

Industry Responsible for POS Marketing

*The most recent available FTC data.

Retail Contracts

POS: Effective Youth Recruitment Center

•

POS: Effective Youth Recruitment Center

POS: Disproportionate Effect on Youth

“Today’s teenager is tomorrow’s potential regular customer, and the overwhelming majority of smokers first begin to smoke while still in their teens...The smoking patterns of teenagers are particularly important to Philip Morris.”- Philip Morris, Special Report, 1981

“The ability to attract new smokers and develop them into a young adult franchise is key to brand development.”- 1999 Philip Morris report, "Five-Year Trends 1988-1992."

"They represent tomorrow's cigarette business. . . As this 14-24 age group matures, they will account for a key share of the total cigarette volume -- for at least the next 25 years."- September 30, 1974 R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. marketing plan presented to the company's board of directors

In Our Community

[insert local data, information, and images here]

POS Marketing Youth Addiction Experimentation

! !

MYTH FACT

Peer pressure is the real cause of youth tobacco

use.  

Research indicates that adolescents are more influences by tobacco marketing than peer pressure.33

We have already done enough to reduce youth

tobacco use. 

In Vermont, 13% of all high school students smoke and 11% of male high school students use smokeless or spit

tobacco.34

 

 Our limited resources

should go to more pressing problems.

Smoking kills more people than alcohol, AIDS, car crashes, illegal

drugs, murders, and suicides combined.35

What can be done about it?

Communities can regulate who can buy and sell tobacco.

Communities can regulate the time, place, and manner of tobacco

marketing. For more information on policy options

contact:The Center for Public Health & Tobacco Policy

154 Stuart StreetBoston, MA 02116

Phone: 617-368-1465Fax: 617-368-1368

www.tobaccopolicycenter.org tobacco@nesl.edu