The recent agreement between state Attorney General Jennifer Granholm and Walgreen Co. will have the drugstore chain honing in on tobacco sales regulation in efforts to help curb underage smoking.

The deal is a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, a lot more companies and people are going to have to join in with steps of their own in order to protect children’s lungs.

Studies show time and again that too many people develop smoking habits before they are legally old enough to purchase tobacco products.

The 2001 Monitoring the Future study, which annually monitors teenage smoking in the United States, reported teens believe cigarettes are becoming more difficult to obtain.

Of the more than 13,000 10th-graders who took last year’s survey, 86.3 percent reported having “fairly easy” or “very easy” access to tobacco products in 2001. That’s down from the 90.7 percent who made that claim in 1995.

While this decline can be attributed to store clerks’ being more efficient in complying to ID requirements, the number of children lighting up is still unacceptable.

But the high number of teens who are able to get their hands on cigarettes does not fall solely on the companies that sell the product. Far too often, people of legal buying age purchase cigarettes for their minor friends or relatives.

These individuals need to be stopped as well as clerks who fail to check ID.

It’s difficult to understand why one would wish to help his or her younger loved one to become addicted to such an unhealthy habit.

Just as the saying says “Friends don’t let friends drink and drive,” another should be created, “Friends don’t let friends start smoking.”

We cannot educate our children enough about the dangers of smoking until we stop them from doing it.

Everyone needs to sign up for this fight if America hopes to produce a healthier generation.