ANTI-SMOKING CAMPAIGN STEPPED UP : COUNTY DOUBLES EFFORTS TO DISCOURAGE LIGHTING UP.

Byline: Christopher Noxon Daily News Staff Writer

County health officials are doubling their efforts to combat the use of tobacco with an expanded public health campaign that aims to counter advertisements that appeal to youthful smokers.

The budget for the county Tobacco Education and Control program is jumping from $220,000 to $454,719 with the long-awaited diversion of more state tobacco taxes toward local educational programs.

In its first five years, the county program never received the full 20 percent of a 25 cent per-pack tax approved by voters with the passage of Proposition 99, according to Health Education Services Director Eileen Gordon.

``This is the first year we have finally been able to get the full 20 percent promised by the initiative,'' Gordon said.

The program includes anti-smoking advertising, educational workshops, counseling for quitters and local political initiatives. The main goal of the effort is to discourage young people from smoking, said program administrator Jeanne Scott.

About 17.5 percent of Ventura County residents smoke, Scott said, a significant drop from 10 years ago. But health officials worry about nationwide figures that show more and more children are taking up smoking. Tobacco use by children rose from 9.1 percent in 1990 to 11.9 percent five years later, Scott said.

Advertising has played a major role in motivating kids to smoke, she said.

``The tobacco industry has learned that if they bombard kids with attractive promotions and giveaways they can lure them into smoking,'' Scott said. ``Our goal is to fund local programs that make kids aware of the advertising and discourage merchants from carrying it.''

One program funded by the county provides materials to kids who photograph and count the number of cigarette advertisements in their community. Another program enlists kids to attempt to buy cigarettes at nearby stores - merchants who agree to sell are given pamphlets and a warning from police.

``Most adults are oblivious to the number of tobacco ads near schools,'' Scott said. ``It's particularly true of ethnic communities. Even in our little county, they're targeting minorities and youth.''

Scott said the county will make funding available to a number of local programs, including a training session for doctors on how to intervene with patients who smoke, a workshop designed to give public school teachers information on tobacco, television advertisements to run on local Cablevision channels and distribution of the ``Quit Kit,'' a package of supplies for people quitting the habit.

The county will also help pay for the conversion of an old public bus into a mobile nonsmoking exhibit that will travel between schools.

Scott said the increased funding is not guaranteed for more than a year, but she hopes the doubled program will make a real difference.

``It's hard to make a real change in a year's period,'' she said. ``But the tobacco industry doubled its budget for advertising in this state and they saw a difference. We've been curtailed from our campaign until now.''