Star-Bulletin
Joe Camel appears, to some, to be in cameo on this
RJR Nabisco "Barnum's Animals" cracker box.
The similarity is noted by Jodi Nishioka, Hawaii Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids coordinator, who points out that RJR Nabisco Holdings Corp. is parent company for the animal crackers and Camel cigarettes.
The percentage of young people smoking Camels jumped to 13.3 percent from 3 percent within five years after the Joe Camel cartoon campaign was launched, according to the Tobacco-Free Kids organization.
The idea that the animal cracker camel is connected with Joe Camel is "just comical," Maura Ellis, spokesperson for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., said today by telephone from North Carolina. "We have nothing to do with the marketing efforts of our sister company, nor do they with ours. ...
"We are very adamantly on record that Camel's cigarette brand is solely designed for adult smokers of competitive brands. There is absolutely no truth that we're trying to co-market with Nabisco Brands."
Starting tomorrow, however, Joe Camel, the Marlboro Man and other images employed in $6 billion annual advertising campaigns to turn kids into smokers will be under government assault.
Anyone 27 or younger must show a picture identification card for over-the-counter cigarette purchases, with sales prohibited to anyone under 18.
It's the first time a president and Congress have taken the position that nicotine is a drug subject to FDA regulations as far as kids are concerned, Nishioka said. "It's a historical step."
Other provisions are aimed at reducing the appeal of smoking to children and making it more difficult for them to get cigarettes. They will take effect in August unless derailed by tobacco lobbying in Congress and a lawsuit in North Carolina.
While the federal government is going head-to-head with the tobacco industry, the state is trying to throw up barriers to keep kids from buying cigarettes, said state Health Director Larry Miike.
Julian Lipsher, with the Department of Health tobacco prevention and education project, said the number of adult smokers in Hawaii has declined to less than 1 out of 5. But the percentage of teen smokers rose to 32.4 percent in 1995 from 28.2 percent in 1993, he said.
"The alarm has gone off in the fire house."
A 1995 study showed minors were able to buy tobacco in 43 percent of Hawaii's over-the-counter sales outlets, he said. That must be cut to 20 percent in three years or Hawaii will lose federal money for alcohol, drug and tobacco prevention efforts, he said.
The Cayetano administration has two bills pending in the Legislature - one to raise the state tax on cigarettes to $1 a pack from 60 cents; the other to require places selling tobacco products to have licenses similar to liquor licenses.
The licensure bill is seen as a major deterrent to selling cigarettes to minors because the license could be pulled for violations.
A 40-cent increase would make Hawaii's cigarette tax the highest in the nation, making the average price per pack almost $3. But Miike said the House Finance Committee approved only a 10-cent tax increase, possibly because concerns were raised about increased black market cigarette sales on military bases.
Nishioka said Hawaii residents showed broad support for the federal tobacco policy and proposed state bills in a recent statewide poll by Ward Research Co.
The Hawaii Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids today released the poll results with co-sponsors, The American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, Hawaii State PTSA and Interagency Council on Smoking and Health.
