By Berlanga H.C.R. No. 130 74R7641 T CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 1-1 WHEREAS, Despite the existence of laws to prevent minors from 1-2 purchasing tobacco products, young people currently have little 1-3 difficulty acquiring cigarettes, chewing tobacco, and snuff; and 1-4 WHEREAS, Though it is illegal in Texas to sell tobacco 1-5 products to anyone under the age of 18, compliance surveys by the 1-6 Texas Department of Health indicate that underage Texans are able 1-7 to buy cigarettes nearly 60 percent of the time; this failure to 1-8 keep tobacco out of the hands of young people carries with it an 1-9 enormous social and financial cost; and 1-10 WHEREAS, Tobacco is the number one preventable cause of death 1-11 in Texas, accounting for one out of every five deaths in the state; 1-12 each year, tobacco-related diseases claim the lives of nearly 1-13 25,000 Texans, and of the estimated 3,000 American children who 1-14 start smoking today, 750 eventually will die of smoking-related 1-15 disease; and 1-16 WHEREAS, In Texas alone, tobacco is linked to an estimated 1-17 four billion dollars in health care costs; this enormous economic 1-18 burden is augmented by the lost productivity of workers who become 1-19 ill from smoking, and the emotional and financial impact this has 1-20 on families is incalculable; and 1-21 WHEREAS, Surveys indicate that most smokers take up the habit 1-22 as children, and among current adult smokers in the United States, 1-23 75 percent started before their 18th birthday, putting themselves 1-24 at risk for serious health problems long before they were mature 2-1 enough to understand the consequences of their actions; and 2-2 WHEREAS, It is natural for young people to want to emulate 2-3 behaviors that are appropriate only for adults, such as drinking 2-4 and smoking, but common sense dictates that such decisions be 2-5 delayed until they reach an age of maturity; this is the purpose of 2-6 laws limiting sales of alcohol and tobacco to persons who have 2-7 reached an age of consent; and 2-8 WHEREAS, Such laws do nothing if they are not enforced, 2-9 however, and greater efforts must be made to ensure compliance with 2-10 the law and to raise public awareness of this problem as the health 2-11 and well-being of countless young Texans, and thus the future of 2-12 our state, depends on finding a solution; now, therefore, be it 2-13 RESOLVED, that the Texas Department of Health shall cooperate 2-14 with other state agencies in a statewide effort to reduce tobacco 2-15 product consumption by underage persons through the joint 2-16 enforcement of state laws prohibiting the sale of tobacco products 2-17 to minors.