Staff Writer

 Four high school students think the ordinance they’ve spent nearly two years developing will provide a safer environment for visitors to Old Orchard Beach.

Hattie Simon, MaryKate Slattery, Sarah Jenkins and Sabryna Deschaies formed an anti-tobacco action group and plan to present the town council an ordinance that would ban use of tobacco products on Old Orchard Beach.

The teens, all high school freshmen, attended the Maine Anti-Tobacco Summit in 2009 where they won a $350 grant for their plan to make the beach smoke-free. Deschaies said they decided on their action plan after listening to a presentation on tobacco bans on Hawaii beaches.

“We thought that would be a good idea for here,” she said.

Simon said they chose the plan because they wanted something with a wide-range impact. Slattery said the group used the grant to survey 400 people about the proposed ban. She said 88 percent of people surveyed supported a ban on tobacco products on the beach.

“Some of the people who smoke still thought it was a good idea,” Simon said. She also noted some smokers declined to fill out the survey.

Deschaies said the ordinance the group drafted would make the beach tobacco-free and allow smoking in designated areas 20 feet from the beach. The group suggests fines ranging from $50 to $250. Simon said signs could be posted near entry points to the beach to explain the ordinance and fines.

While doing research for the ordinance, group members called town councilors to talk about the idea. Simon said councilors generally seemed to support the idea, but had questions about how a ban might affect businesses. Studies have shown smoking bans do not negatively impact businesses, she said.

Group members said the ordinance will reduce the number of cigarette butts on the beach. Cigarettes are not biodegradable or attractive, Simon said.

“It will make the beaches cleaner so people have a more enjoyable time,” Slattery said.

The group met last week with Code Enforcement Officer Mike Nugent to review their proposed ordinance. Simon said she expects the group to give a presentation to town councilors in April. The group encourages people to come to the meeting to speak about the ordinance.

Simon spoke about the ordinance during the Kick Butts Day event March 23 at Thornton Academy in Saco. She encouraged students to get involved in the cause and stand up against tobacco use.

Kick Butts Day is a national event where youth speak up against tobacco and teen exploitation in an effort to lower youth tobacco use, said Megan Rochelo, director of Coastal Healthy Communities Coalition. An assembly with Thornton Academy Middle School students was one of six different youth activities scheduled that day in the area, she said.

“It’s really important for students to be aware tobacco companies are using tactics they know will draw teens into making them lifelong smokers,” Rochelo said. “We’re giving them the opportunity to stand up against this.”

Dr. Richard Kahn, a pulmonologist at Southern Maine Medical Center in Biddeford, said tobacco is more addicting than alcohol, cocaine and heroin. He said the only way to prevent lung cancer is to not start smoking.

Kahn said Maine in 1995 had the second highest rate of teen smokers in the country. He said most people start smoking at age 12 or 13.

“Most of my patients really wish they hadn’t started,” he said.

Kahn said it costs about $2,100 per year to be a smoker in Maine. He can often tell who is a smoker because of yellow teeth, wrinkles and tobacco stains on fingers, he said.

“If someone offers you a cigarette, you can say no. It’s not necessary to smoke to be cool. There are many other ways to be cool,” Kahn said.

Mary Cook, York district tobacco coordinator, said tobacco ads target youth with bright colors and situations that show smoking as cool.

“They want you to think athletes smoke. Most athletes don’t smoke because they’d have a difficult time performing,” she said. “If the models in the ads were actually smoking, they wouldn’t look so pretty.”

Tommy Stilphen, a sixth-grade student from Arundel, said people shouldn’t smoke because it’s not good for their health.

“It could give you lung cancer and it could even kill you,” he said.

Tiffany Robert, principal of the middle school, said she was thrilled her students had the chance to participate in Kick Butts Day. She said it is critical to educate students at a young age about the long-term dangers of tobacco use.

Simon shared with students statistics about cigarettes and smoking. She said teens are three times more likely to smoke because of advertisements than adults. More than 18 percent of Maine high school students smoke, as do 7.6 percent of Maine middle school students, she said.

Simon said worldwide one person dies every 6.4 seconds and in the United States one person dies every 72 seconds from tobacco-related causes. She said second-hand smoke contains 7,000 chemicals, 70 of which cause cancer.

“If that doesn’t stop people from smoking, I don’t know what will,” she said.

Staff Writer Gillian Graham can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 213.