By Hirschi, Delisi                                      H.R. No. 58
       74R2713 BNL-D
                                  R E S O L U T I O N
    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 use is the number one preventable cause of
   1-11  death in Texas, accounting for one out of every five deaths in the
   1-12  state; each year, tobacco-related diseases claim the lives of
   1-13  nearly 25,000 Texans, and of the estimated 3,000 American children
   1-14  who start smoking today, 750 eventually will die of a
   1-15  smoking-related 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 House of Representatives of the 74th Texas
   2-14  Legislature hereby designate February 1995 as Youth Tobacco
   2-15  Prevention Month in Texas and encourage citizens across the state
   2-16  to address this critical issue.