We Can Stop Teens from SmokingPreventing teens from smoking is a significant challenge facing many communities today. Many communities can only watch, without taking action, as local businesses continue to sell tobacco products to minors, even under the risk of criminal penalties. Recent studies show that a large percentage of adolescents today buy their cigarettes in stores, primarily gas stations or convenience stores. As teens continue to be able to purchase their own cigarettes, more communities are beginning to impose harsher penalties on merchants who sell to teens. One community has found success in its attempts to end the sale of tobacco products to minors. Woodridge, Illinois, began a program seven years ago that strictly prohibits and punishes the sale of tobacco products to minors. The entire program includes local licensing of sellers, repeated undercover inspections to verify whether selling to minors has stopped, and educational programs in schools. Woodridge has become a model community as other communities work to end teen smoking. A recent national study showed that 36.5% of women and 40.8% of men buy their cigarettes in stores, whether it's a gas station or a supermarket. Hopefully, as more traders realize the problems they face if they are caught selling to minors, they will stop selling. It is true that restrictions on stores that sell tobacco to minors will not completely end the problem of adolescent smoking. Teenagers continue to get them from other sources. But it definitely hampers their efforts. With more education in schools and perhaps tougher penalties for teens caught with tobacco, more and more teens will realize the problems associated with tobacco use and quit the habit...