The Stanislaus County Health Services Agency Tobacco Education Program will be running an undercover tobacco enforcement survey on Thursday, July 27 throughout Stanislaus County. There will be training for 30 - 40 youth surveyors and their adult supervisors starting at

12:30 p.m. at Modesto High School room 81 on July 27. Following training, the surveyors will travel to various communities throughout Stanislaus County to perform their undercover survey. Media are invited to attend the training and participate in the undercover operation. Media who would like to attend are requested to contact David Jones at (209) 558-5636.

Underage youth will approach establishments in an attempt to purchase tobacco products under the concealed supervision of an adult.

The July 27 survey will be conducted in the following cities and towns: Modesto, Turlock, Oakdale, Ceres, Riverbank, Patterson, Hughson, Crows Landing, Denair, Empire, Hickman, Keyes, Knights Ferry, Newman, Salida, Waterford and Westley.

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

Duvall noted that tobacco sales rates in Stanislaus County have decreased in contrast to the state results. She noted "in 1995, our county survey showed an illegal sales rate of 54%. By 1999, we had that number down to 12.3%."

The California legislature passed the STAKE Act (Stop Tobacco Access To Kids Enforcement Act) in 1994 to prohibit the sale of tobacco products to minors. The STAKE ACT was designed to protect the health of children by stopping illegal sales of tobacco to youth. The owner of a business where tobacco is sold or provided to a minor may be fined $200-300 for the first violation and up to $6,000 for a fifth or subsequent violation within a five year period.

It is estimated that 300 children begin to smoke or chew tobacco in California every day, with more than half of them starting before the age of 15.

The Stanislaus County Health Services Agency (HSA) is an outpatient medical system with 9 medical offices located throughout Stanislaus County. The HSA operates the Public Health Department, an Urgent Care Center and multiple programs serving over 400,000 patients and clients each year in Stanislaus County. The HSA also is in local partnerships for the MOMobile project and the Stanislaus Family Practice Residency Program. The HSA has extensive community health information available at its web site www.schsa.org