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From New York Newspapers

The Press-Republican of Plattsburgh on Tobacco 21

Sept. 12

Bravo to the Essex County Board of Supervisors for upping the age to buy tobacco products to 21.

As of Jan. 1, 2019 — after an educational effort that will include informational meetings and signs and informational packets delivered to vendors — sale will be prohibited to those younger than 21 of cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco, powdered tobacco, shisha, bidis, gutka and other tobacco products, nicotine water, herbal cigarettes, electronic nicotine delivery systems, liquid nicotine, snuff, rolling papers and smoking paraphernalia.

“Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death and disease, costing the U.S. an estimated $289 billion in health care and lost productivity,” Essex County Director of Public Health Linda Beers told us.

“Three of the four leading causes of premature death in Essex County are cancer, heart disease and chronic lower respiratory disease — all linked to smoking.”

Think about that. That fact alone makes implementation of this law a must.

Beyond that, studies show those who begin smoking as teenagers are much more likely to make it a habit.

“We have to proactively prevent the tobacco industry from addicting another generation,” Beers said, “because 96 percent of smokers begin smoking before the age of 21.”

And she’s talking about kids who might otherwise light up for the first time at 15, 14 or even 13.

There can be no argument that tobacco is poison to the human system.

Actually, there can be no argument that it would be better for our collective health in the United States to outlaw tobacco altogether. It would also take a huge burden off the health system financially.

But big tobacco has money, and money talks. And this is a democracy, with many believing the individual should decide whether he or she wants to use tobacco and take the risks that go along with it.

It can be a delicate walk between personal freedoms and too-risky behaviors. But tobacco? Who can dispute that?

The effort to raise the tobacco-purchase age was led by the Essex County Health Department, the Adirondack Health Institute’s Population Health Improvement Program and 35-plus partner agencies that worked for more than a year to raise awareness and support for the measure.

That monumental effort went hand in hand with the nationwide Tobacco 21 initiative.

In the North Country, the town and city of Plattsburgh have each passed resolutions in favor of Clinton County upping the age. But that hasn’t happened yet.

Nor have the other counties stepped up whose borders touch Essex County: Franklin Hamilton, Warren and Washington.

If they raise the age, too, Beers said, Essex County young people will be “locked in love.”

Yes, it will still be legal for those 18, 19 and 20 to smoke — the county’s law doesn’t change that.

But it will, Beers said, “remove most purchasers from the social circles of high school students, which will, in turn, reduce the chances that an individual will try cigarettes or have a supply of cigarettes to become addicted.”

So who will enforce the new law? It will be complaint-driven, Beers explained, with the Health Department handling issues that may arise.

But tobacco vendors around Essex County are compliant with the laws as they stand now, she noted.

“We have no reason to believe they won’t be compliant with 21.”

The aim is for New York state to raise the age, even as counties, one by one, come aboard.

Essex County’s success, Beers hopes, will be catalyst for change.

We strongly urge our local counties to fulfill that hope.

The Post-Star of Glens Falls on mailers from elected officials

Sept. 14

We know you have had them clog up your mailbox at one time or another, perhaps even sometime in the last week.

Our elected representatives like to keep us up to date on what they’ve been doing in Albany, so they mail large postcards and newsletters with information about what they are doing on our behalf.

One of our editorial board members got one this week.

Assemblyman Dan Stec’s flyer arrived on Sept. 11 with a full color photograph of a soldier holding a little blond-headed girl in his arms. In the photo, both were surrounded by American flags. Underneath were the words, “Serving those who have served us.”

It’s a nice sentiment.

On the flip side of the mailer is a picture of Stec on the floor of the Assembly under the words, “Thank you for your service.” Next to that photo there is text that reminds us that Stec is a veteran and lists five legislative items he has endorsed in the Assembly to benefit veterans.

Yes, it is an election year.

We suspect most of you didn’t give this mailer much of your time. We confess we sometimes toss them in the trash without much of a thought.

You might not be so quick to toss it out if you knew how much it was costing you.

Before we go there, we don’t want you to think we are picking on Dan Stec. The former Queensbury supervisor is not doing anything wrong or anything that his colleagues aren’t doing as well.

But according to the Empire Center — an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank based in Albany — the state Senate spends over $3 million in bulk postage, while the state Assembly spends approximately $2.7 million. That is almost double what it was from a year ago.

Granted, in the grand scheme of New York’s $168.3 billion budget, $6 million is change in the couch cushions, but it still bugs us.

Considering the availability of email and websites to communicate information, it seems like a waste of taxpayer money.

Sending out bulk mailings has also been part of the home-field advantage for incumbents in the New York State Legislature. Mailers like the one that landed from Dan Stec this past week serve as campaign advertising paid for by the taxpayers.

That rubs us the wrong way, too.

Again, Stec is not doing anything wrong. They all do it. That’s the $6 million problem.

In 2014, Stec spent $47,496.82 on bulk mail when he was unopposed. Two years later, with competition from just the Green Party, Stec spent $52,068.36.

Running for re-election for the first time in 2016 against a Republican opponent, Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner spent $52,855.82 on bulk mailings.

The state Senate gets even more of an allowance.

Sen. Little spent $152,240.33 in bulk mail in 2014 when she ran against Robin Barkenhagen of the Green Party. When she was unopposed in 2016, she spent $111,499.83.

Not surprisingly, the amount spent in non-election years tends to drop.

There are times there is important information in these mailers, and other times when they are used to promote events, such as the one Sen. Little sent out promoting a local health fair.

But we believe there are better ways for our elected representatives to get out their message that are far less expensive.

We believe it is time to stop snail-mail advertising from our representatives. It is wasteful and an advantage that incumbent politicians should not have.

We are hoping that one of our elected representatives will set an example and give up the practice voluntarily.

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