Turlock Journal Staff Writer

July 17, 2000

According to the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency, more young people than ever are smoking cigarettes, if recent state numbers documenting the sale of tobacco products to minors are any indication.

Heather Gruenig-Duvall, coordinator of the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency's Tobacco Education Program said, "The state results are very disturbing. They cast a bad light on what is happening to our children."

However, Gruenig-Duvall says, based on a county-wide survey, rates of illegal tobacco sales to minors in Stanislaus County have declined since 1995, but remains consistent with state figures.

"In 1995, our county survey showed illegal sales rate at 54 percent. By 1999, we had that number down to 12.3 percent," Gruenig-Duvall said.

The statewide survey indicated illegal sales in 1999 increased by 29 percent over the previous year, rising from 13.1 percent in 1998 to 16.9 percent during 1999.

"A lot of things contributed to the decline in illegal sales in the county," Gruenig-Duvall said. "But probably the biggest factor was the merchant education efforts we made after the STAKE Act passed."

She also credited the large amount of media attention paid to the new regulations and the advertising and public service announcements appearing on TV.

Cindy Turner, manager of the Cigarettes Cheaper store on Golden State Boulevard follows the law to the letter and goes a little beyond. The store has five different signs near the entrance declaring tobacco will not be sold to minors.

"When a customer hits the door and before they get past the cash register, I asked for identification."

At the register, Turner also has a calendar that calculates the age of the person being identified based on their birth date.

"I've had maybe five people since Oct. 1999 trying to buy cigarettes, illegally. And only one person, that I can remember who tried to buy cigarettes for someone standing outside the store," Turner said.

Turner even watches for young people outside the store who approach adults entering.

"As soon as I see something like that, I go outside and ask them to leave," she said.

California law makers passed the STAKE (Stop Tobacco Access to Kids Enforcement Act) in 1994 which makes it illegal to sell tobacco products to minors and was passed to protect the health of children by stopping illegal sales to minors.

Since then, the state has conducted surveys to determine compliance with the act.

Gruenig-Duvall said most of, if not all, county compliance checks are complaint driven. Someone has knowledge of illegal sales and notifies the state. The compliance check is then done.

In 1999, 13 county businesses were cited for illegal sales to minors, she said.

Gruenig-Duvall said the state surveys are conducted to ensure that all merchants who have tobacco products available for retail sale are in compliance with state and federal laws and included over 400 stores drawn from a Board of Equalization list of California retailers.

Results of the statewide survey indicate that businesses most likely to illegally sell tobacco products to minors were gas stations, supermarkets and small grocery/convenience stores.

Supermarkets had the most dramatic increase, rising from a 5.1 percent incident rate to 17.3 percent in 1999, a jump of 238 percent.

Gas stations recorded a 52 percent increase last year, while small grocery stores and convenience type retailers showed an increase of 39 percent from 1998.

The survey teams, consisting of two teenagers and an adult driver, who acting as an observer, were sent out to selected business and attempted to purchase tobacco products.

One of the minors on the survey team would enter the store and either request a pack of cigarettes from the sales clerk or picked up a pack from a self-serve display.

During the purchase attempt, if the youth was asked his or her age, they would respond truthfully by stating their actual age. If the sale was completed the transaction was counted as an illegal sale.

Each attempted purchase observed by the adult escort who also recorded the purchase transaction. The owner of the business where tobacco is sold and provided to a minor may be fined up to $300 for a first violation and up to $6,000 for a fifth and subsequent violation within a five year period.

State regulators estimate that, each day, 300 California children begin to smoke or chew tobacco. Over half of them are under the age of 15.

Gruenig-Duvall encourages retailers to help in the effort to protect children from the use of tobacco by:

• Never selling tobacco products to children under the age of 18.
• Always asking for ID from anyone who appears to be under 27-years-old.
• Always calculating the customer's age using the dates on their ID before selling tobacco products.
• Posting the required STAKE Act signs at each retail point of sale.

Retailers can contact the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency Tobacco Education Program if they need information or signs required for posting or with other questions concerning the program.

Citizens can also contact the California Department of Health Services at (800) 527-5443 to report anyone illegally selling tobacco products to minors.

The public can also contact Gruenig-Duvall at 558-6053 for information on tobacco, including smoking cessation programs.

Turner isn't worried about compliance checks at her store.

"My company also does in-house compliance checks to make sure we're following the letter of the law," she said.

Reprinted by permission of The Turlock Journal.