When I was part of Florida’s Students Working Against Tobacco in high school, a group of us campaigned to have cigarettes moved behind the counter at all sales points in our city and county. At the time, cigarettes were often placed on or in front of the counter at convenience stores, making them very visible and easy for children to steal (the industry paid to replace each stolen pack, so there was no incentive for the shop owners to go after the kids).

We modified an ordinance from another city, and worked with a local politician who helped us understand the process we needed to go through to get our ordinance passed. We had to meet with the local commerce board and present our case before the city and county commissioners. When it came time for the commissioners to vote, the ordinance passed easily.

Youth could use similar tactics to push for complete display bans (like Thailand’s) in their local areas. Sure, a small area is just a start, but in our case since other youth around the state were campaigning for similar ordinances, more and more of the state eventually adopted the laws. If youth from all over the country/world are campaigning for the same laws, eventually we’ll have the globe covered!

One more note–provisions for enforcement are key. Laws aren’t much good if there’s no way to ensure they are being followed!