State hire former cop to lead crackdown on youth smoking

The state has hired a former policeman to head the crackdown on underage kids who smoke and try to buy tobacco. Gary Marker has been in law enforcement for 32 years, with stints as a Des Moines cop and a D-C-I agent.Lynn Walding, is administrator of the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division, the agency that’s been tapped to help curtail underage smoking. Walding says Marker will work with local police to devise ways to curb underage smoking.According to a recent survey, 37 percent of Iowa teenagers use tobacco products.