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EDITORIAL: There's no secret about what works in tobacco prevention, but does the Alabama Legislature have the will to act? 

Don't let the short item at the bottom of Monday's Health section escape your attention:

"Teen smoking falls in state," is the headline on the 16-line brief, but the information should have much more impact than the space it takes up on the page.

For years, Alabama has been one of the most tobacco-friendly states in the nation. We don't have any significant tobacco farming, yet our Legislature acts as if it's one of the largest cash crops in the state. Lawmakers resist raising tobacco taxes, enacting a strong, statewide anti-smoking policy, and even spending more than a fraction of the money needed to educate smokers on the risks of a cigarette habit. . . .

Also encouraging is nearly half of the students who smoke say they want to quit. . . .

The Legislature must pass state Sen. Vivian Figures' bill that will ban smoking in many public places. Each year, Figures introduces the bill. It passed the Senate this year before getting bogged down in the House. The bill prohibits smoking in restaurants, workplaces, sports arenas and the like. Studies have shown that teens in towns with strict smoking bans are 40 percent less likely to become smokers. Generally, if people don't pick up the habit as teenagers, they aren't likely to smoke as adults.

We know what we can do to further reduce teen cigarette smoking and tobacco use, and it's no secret. The only question is whether the Legislature will choose to help the state's vulnerable teenagers instead of bowing once again to a hard-lobbying tobacco industry.

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