Suffolk lawmaker's bid to scare smokers

Despite significant legal hurdles, a Suffolk County legislator wants to press forward with legislation to require graphic images of the effects of smoking to go up wherever cigarettes are sold.

Legis. Jon Cooper's proposal would mean big posters of cancer-riddled lungs and decaying teeth on walls behind the counters of convenience stores and gas stations in Suffolk.

"Maybe someone seeing them will think, 'Oh my God, what am I doing to myself? I've got to stop,' " said Cooper (D-Lloyd Harbor), the Legislature's majority leader.

His bill, based on a similar measure passed in New York City, illustrates how the battleground over smoking has shifted right to the location where cigarettes are sold. Banned from TV advertising, tobacco companies have focused 90 percent of their marketing budgets on in-store promotions, a U.S. District Court judge noted recently. New York was the first municipality to try to counter that with gruesome images. Cooper believes Suffolk would be the first individual county in the nation to adopt such a requirement.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, meanwhile, is proposing to put the images even more in the face of smokers - right on the packs.

Karen Miller, executive director of the Huntington Breast Cancer Action Coalition, backs the approaches, saying: "You've got to use hard tactics when you're dealing with matters of life and death."

But the city's effort has hit legal headwinds. In December, District Court Judge Jed Rakoff blocked the initiative, agreeing with tobacco companies and the state's convenience store association that only the federal government can pass laws affecting tobacco advertising. The city argues that pre-emption does not apply because the city law does not affect how the companies advertise.

While many Suffolk lawmakers said they hadn't seen Cooper's proposal, some were skeptical about creating a local law. Legis. Kate Browning (WF-Shirley), chairwoman of the Suffolk Legislature's health committee, which would consider the measure, said it may be best for the FDA to deal with the issue.

Still, Cooper said he's pressing forward with the debate, with a public legislative hearing scheduled for March 8.

Cooper acknowledged the legal uncertainties, but said he's hoping to hear from the county's attorney at the meeting about whether the measure can be crafted to be defensible. County Attorney Christine Malafi and County Executive Steve Levy are assessing the proposal's legal chances, said Dan Aug, a Levy spokesman.

Cooper's bill is expected to face heated opposition from Suffolk retailers. Under Cooper's measure, store owners would have to put up graphic warning signs, to be developed by the county, within five feet of any tobacco ad, display or counter where tobacco products are sold.

"Someone coming in to buy a sandwich is going to see a picture of a diseased lung? That's real appetizing," said Kevin Beyer, who has a Subway franchise at the Performance Fuels gas station in Smithtown, and is president of the Long Island Gasoline Retailers Association.

At his store, there is a cacophony of signs for cigarettes - among them, "Pall Mall lasts longer." Some customers balked at the idea of another government mandate. John O'Malley, a sales representative for ice cream companies and a former smoker, at first indicated support for posting warnings. Shown New York City's signs, he shrugged: "Anything that'll stop smoking."

But for Cooper, whose spouse smokes, the issue hits close to home: "When you have a loved one who can't kick the habit, it makes it personal."