Coalition Speaks Out Against "Alarming Presence" Of Tobacco Advertising In Groton

If Chesca Bonnevie, 15, collected all the tobacco advertisements she and a classmate found around Groton, they could cover a side of 20 school buses, she said.

“The purpose was kind of to show how much advertising there is and because there is so much, we just get used to it and think it’s normal,” said Bonnevie, a freshman at Fitch High School.

Bonnevie and another student canvassed convenience stores and other outlets that sell tobacco to look at the extent of tobacco advertising in Groton. The Groton Adolescent Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition recruited the students last fall to help look at what they called the “power wall” or marketing displays of tobacco products in town. The coalition held a press conference Wednesday to discuss the results.

“Youths find themselves in convenience stores weekly if not daily, and it exposes them to all the marketing,” said Michelle Hamilton, coordinator of the coalition.

Bonnevie said she went to a handful of stores, and the other student did the rest. Forty-one merchants in Groton sell tobacco. The students took photos of the ads and noted where they were in the stores, as well as how prominently they were displayed. The coalition measured the side of a school bus to determine how many buses the ads would cover.

Hamilton said more could be done to limit the presence of tobacco ads. She cited the action by a Province in Canada that banned displays of tobacco products where young people were allowed. The measure was later challenged and upheld by the Supreme Court of Canada, she said.

“I’d really like to see reducing the amount (of advertising), the size, moving it away from kid-friendly items like candy (and) moving signs so they’re away from kids’ eye level,” she said.