Cigarette sales to minors : Compliance check nabs only one
Published on November 19th, 1997
Merchant education and increased compliance checks appear to be helping keep tobacco products out of the hands of local minors.
Only one Stoneham merchant out of 25 establishments sold to a minor during a compliance check by the Stoneham Board of Health and Police Department earlier this month.
Stoneham Tobacco Control Program Director Ruth Brophy announced the results of the compliance check this week after issuing a $100 fine to the franchise owner of Montvale Mobil and a separate $25 fine to the individual who sold the cigarettes.
It's the second year that Brophy and the Board of Health have had to issue fines to a local store, but Brophy is encouraged by this year's compliance check results. Last year, seven stores sold to minors.
"My goal is 100 percent compliance and we're almost there," said Brophy. "This was a nice improvement over the last check. This time around I found the merchants did a better job of asking for identification--most of them asked for an ID right off the bat."
Four out-of-town youths, ranging in age from 13-16, were used in the sting operation.
"We tried to use kids who were in their middle adolescent ages," said Brophy, who conducted the check around the first weekend of this month.
Brophy, who has conducted workshops for local merchants on the importance of asking for identification from those who appear underage, will be sending out congratulatory letters to the stores who refused to sell to the youths.
"I really believe that merchant education and the threat of compliance checks have been effective in keeping stores from selling to minors," said Brophy.
During a recent compliance check in Reading, which runs a similar Tobacco Control Program as Stoneham, two stores out of 23 were caught selling to minors.
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