Starting this fall, Bedford North Lawrence High School students caught with tobacco products on their campus will have to pay a $110 fine. \nThe fine comes from the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department, and is a drastic departure from the school’s former policy of suspension. Bedford Principal Michael Terry said this policy is “consistently fair.” With growing concern about underage tobacco use and the increased focus on smoking prevention programs for teens, Bedford North Lawrence’s resolution may foreshadow a trend of stricter anti-smoking measures in schools. \nThe U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is encouraging states to allocate more funds into “effective, comprehensive tobacco prevention programs,” according to Tobaccofreekids.org. Indiana, which ranks 27th in funding for anti-smoking programs according to the Web site, is budgeted to spend $10.9 million on such programs for the 2007 fiscal year. The sum is only a portion of the CDCP’s recommended budget of $34.8 million for prevention and cessation initiatives.\nIn 2006, Gov. Mitch Daniels proposed a cigarette tax hike, but it was not approved by the legislature.
Popular opinion
A recent poll shows the majority of 9th District Hoosiers are in favor of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration playing a regulatory and monetary role over tobacco. \nDirector of the Midwestern Region of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Aaron Doeppers hopes that such statistics will prompt Rep. Baron Hill to cosponsor the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, which would give the U.S. FDA such authority. \nThe bill will address the tobacco industry’s marketing and advertising aimed at teens. As of 2005, tobacco industries spend an estimated $425.1 million each year on marketing in Indiana, according to Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. \n“Indiana voters agree that it’s time for Congress … to end the deadly status quo that allows tobacco companies to target our children,” Doeppers said. \nOn Aug. 1, 2007, Hill issued a statement saying he would not favor the Children’s Health and Medicare Protection Act because it “made too drastic a cut to (his) constituents.” The increased federal tax the act would impose on tobacco products would be a “huge hit on our tobacco farmers,” Hill said.
Bloomington high schools
Like Bedford, Monroe County Community School Corporation prohibits the use of tobacco products on school grounds. However, Jeff Henderson, principal of Bloomington High School North, said it is unlikely that MCCSC will follow in Bedford’s footsteps when it comes to tobacco use penalties. \n“It hasn’t even been an item of discussion,” Henderson said. “Typically changes happening in surrounding districts are brought up, in time.” \nBloomington High South works with the Bloomington Probation and Parole office for first offenses. \nAssistant Principal Joe Doyle of Bloomington South said students are not experimenting with tobacco use at school. Students who are getting caught smoking are probably not first time users, he said. Doyle said he is not sure if the school disciplinary action is “curbing the use after school” and he doubts “if school should be first line of defense.” \nMCCSC Superintendent Jim Harvey does not believe Monroe County School district will ultimately decide to fine students for tobacco use. He said different districts make “different decisions based on community norms.”\nSmoking and tobacco use “can only be dealt with once it becomes a problem,” Doyle said.
