Stopping the Sale of Tobacco to Kids
March 2009
Forty-five children in Washington start
smoking cigarettes every day. Surveys of adult smokers in
Washington show that about half of them had first tried cigarettes by
age 14, and 70 percent of them were smoking regularly before they left
high school.
In Washington it is illegal for youth under
the age of 18 to use or possess tobacco. It is also illegal for
anyone to give tobacco to a person under the age of 18. The Department
of Health Tobacco Prevention and Control Program (Tobacco Program)
supports the efforts of county and school tobacco prevention programs to
restrict youth access to tobacco.
A broad approach to
restricting availability
Community tobacco prevention programs and their partners, with
the support of the state Tobacco Program, monitor tobacco sales, educate
retailers and the community about tobacco sale and possession laws, and
conduct on-site checks to ensure compliance with state law.
Retailer compliance checks and education
Federal law requires states to keep youth tobacco sales rates at or
below 20 percent. Compliance with this requirement is measured through
random checks of retailers during which kids attempt to buy tobacco.
In 2008, Washington youth were able to purchase tobacco about 15.4 percent
of the time.
The Tobacco Program requires its local
contractors to conduct compliance checks and educate retailers about the
law. To help with this effort, the Tobacco Program and its
partners provide retailers with information about tobacco sales, legal
requirements, and display regulations, and show them how to help their
employees comply with the law. Training is available for store
employees from both Liquor Control Board and local tobacco prevention
program staff.
Licensing and monitoring sales
The Tobacco Program works closely with the state Liquor Control Board
to ensure retailer compliance with tobacco sales laws. The Liquor
Control Board conducts on-site inspections to ensure that approved
signage and licensing requirements are met; tracks and enforces
violations; and works with retailers to correct problems. In
addition, the Tobacco Program and Liquor Control Board track the
distribution of free tobacco products in clubs and at events like fairs,
concerts, and rodeos, and work with communities to ensure applicable
laws and requirements are met.
Restricting social sources
As tobacco becomes more difficult to obtain from stores, kids turn to
social sources, such as older friends, family members, and other adults
to obtain tobacco. The Tobacco Program and its partners are
producing new programs and informational materials to discourage adults
from providing tobacco to minors. The program encourages local
programs to try innovative approaches to limiting youth access to
tobacco, such as Puyallup’s TIES (Tobacco Intervention Education and
Support) project in which local officials combine enforcement of youth
possession laws, school policies, and public education to discourage
youth from buying, possessing, and using tobacco.
A comprehensive approach
to fighting tobacco use
Research shows that tobacco prevention programs must conduct a
comprehensive set of strategies to be effective. The Washington
State Tobacco Prevention and Control Program provides services to help
people quit, conducts public awareness and media campaigns, supports local
programs in communities and schools, supports enforcement of policies to
keep kids from accessing tobacco products, and evaluates the effectiveness
of program activities.
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