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ROTTERDAM
Anti-tobacco group targets markets
BY JAMES SCHLETT Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter James Schlett at 395-3040 or jschlett@dailygazette.net.

   A coalition of greater Capital Region health advocacy groups is putting pressure on Price Chopper and Hannaford Supermarkets to sequester their cigarette kiosks and advertisements away from the eyes of children.
   The Capital District Tobacco-Free Coalition, which in recent months has pushed smoke-free initiatives at Albany Medical Center and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is focusing its anti-smoking efforts on area supermarkets.
   The nonprofit organization funded by the state Department of Health is encouraging grocers to relocate their tobacco advertisements and products from checkout areas to the customer service desk.
   “This is where their kids come. This is where their families come. And they don’t want to be bombarded by Marlboro and Camel. We’re just saying get it out of the view of children,” Tobacco-Free Coalition Director Judy Rightmyer said of supermarkets.
   The coalition Monday will send to Price Chopper, Hannaford and GU Family Markets executives more than 3,000 post cards and petitions signed by area consumers who want the supermarkets to make their tobacco products and advertisements less visible. The group hopes that move will help decrease the allure of smoking.
   The coalition has more than two dozen participating members, including Ellis Hospital in Schenectady, Capital District Physicians’ Health Plan in Albany and the Rensselaer County Public Health Department.
   The supermarket campaign marks a new strategy for the 15-year-old coalition, which has convinced several hospitals regionwide to go smoke-free. With the group’s encouragement, RPI in Troy last September made its dormitories smoke-free and Maria College in Albany will go smoke-free in May, Rightmyer said.
   A coalition survey conducted over the summer found that 57.9 percent of Schenectady County residents believe cigarettes and cigars should be sold only at the service desk in grocery stores and not at registers. Almost 36 percent of people surveyed disagreed with that proposition.
   Even more people weighed against the use of tobacco advertisements and signs in grocery stores, with 68.6 percent of people surveyed saying they should be voluntarily eliminated within stores. Almost 27 percent of consumers opposed that proposal.
   Price Chopper spokeswoman Mona Golub said the Rotterdambased supermarket chain has gradually been decreasing the visibility of tobacco products and advertisements in its 116 Northeast stores. She said the Tobacco-Free Coalition “in regard to children makes an excellent argument,” but the company cannot forget its customers who can legally purchase tobacco products.
   “We’re in the midst of an evolution with tobacco products,” Golub said. Price Chopper does not plan to immediately change its tobacco sales practices.
   A Hannaford spokeswoman could not be reached for comment Friday.
   The Rochester-based Wegmans Food Markets already sells tobacco products only at service desks and Target does not sell them at all.
   Although the cigarette kiosks commonly located toward the front and center of supermarkets are not as eye-catching as Joe Camel posters, they can leave an impression on youths with their size and brand exposure, Rightmyer said.
   “We noticed there were very large displays. Some of them even had children’s toys on top of them … All of those brand images increase the chances kids are going to smoke,” she said.
   The nation’s three most heavily advertised cigarette brands — Marlboro, Camel and Newport — are also the most popular among young smokers. More than 80 percent of Americans aged 12 to 17 who smoke smoke those brands, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
   Tobacco use causes more than 25,000 deaths in New York each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
   The new Tobacco-Free initiative also includes a 30-second network television commercial featuring Rick Stoddard, who lost his wife to tobacco use. Stoddard urges parents to demand the removal of tobacco ads from schools.