October - November 2002 Edition 

Smoking at the High School By Chris Neidenberg Starting this coming school year, minors caught smoking on public property within 1,000 feet of any school building face the prospect of fines and penalties under a new ordinance governing body members adopted - just three months after renting school-owned property to permit teen cigarette use.   The head of a statewide anti-smoking coalition, who works locally with some concerned Fair Lawn parents and groups, asserted that the measure is flawed. Though she praised the council for acting with good intentions, Regina Carlson cautioned that the new law could actually produce effects elected officials were looking to prevent. While the ordinance, in fact, applies to all schools, much of the focus in 2002 has been on the high school area. The mayor promised to reach out to the local anti-smoking groups which have attended past council meetings. "I think there's a lot more that can be done, in terms of the borough's actively working to help tackle the problem of smoking," said Ganz, running on the county's Democratic freeholder ticket this year. Still, Carlson, executive director of the Summit-based GASP, said Fair Lawn is mistakenly overlooking also taking measures in more tightly regulating adult use. "We're certainly pleased that the council decided to eliminate the high school smoking area, which was placed right next to a kiddie play area," she told Fair Lawn News in a phone interview from her office. "But we (GASP) have a problem with the general idea of taking actions that only prevent youths from smoking, while overlooking adults." Carlson further stated that stressing punishment in dealing with the teen smoking issue, a feature of the current ordinance which singles youths out, could tempt "rebellious" teens to try dodging the law and smoke even more. "What we know works are measures which discourage everyone from smoking, such as through imposing new taxes, or banning smoking in public areas," she maintained. In fact, New York City and New Jersey have imposed tax increases on smokes in recent months.  Additionally, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently proposed a measure banning smoking in all restaurants and bars, rather than allowing for exceptions. That is currently the case in his city and New Jersey. "It just sounds to me that we're saying, with this ordinance, 'It's OK for adults to smoke but not kids,'" Carlson maintained. "I think that sends the wrong message." She added that GASP's lawyers will gladly work with the municipality on developing a better and "more comprehensive" anti-smoking policy. "We're delighted that Fair Lawn's officials are at least dealing with this issue," Carlson said. "  But we hope that they will work with the local tobacco control coalition on improving the ordinance." Note: Mr. Neidenberg is a talented local writer looking for a job. If you have a job tip for him, send an e- mail to chrisneidenberg@hotmail.com