JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association
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To evaluate whether tobacco advertising encourages teenagers younger than 18 years to start smoking. ⋯ Perception of advertising is higher among young smokers; market-share patterns across age and sex groups follow the perceived advertising patterns; and changes in market share resulting from advertising occur mainly in younger smokers. Cigarette advertising encourages youth to smoke and should be banned.
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To examine the effects of a community education and law enforcement intervention on illegal tobacco sales to minors. ⋯ Education alone had a limited effect on reducing illegal tobacco sales to minors. It did promote community support for more aggressive enforcement strategies. Education plus enforcement decreased significantly over-the-counter sales; vending machine sales were unaffected by these interventions. The lack of support at the judicial level may temper the effectiveness of enforcement. Legislative remedies addressing judicial obstacles and vending machine sales are needed.