SmokersWorld.info

Sales of tobacco products to undercover minors increased in the cities of Lompoc and Santa Maria in 2010, according to results from the Santa Barbara County Public Health Department’s annual “tobacco buy” operations, officials said recently. However, there were decreases in Solvang and in unincorporated county areas such as Orcutt, Los Alamos and Vandenberg Village.

In the cities of Santa Barbara and Guadalupe, sales to minors went up compared to 2009 rates, while Carpinteria and Goleta had decreases.

Undercover buys in Buellton resulted in an illegal sales rate of 42 percent, five out of 12 locations — equal to 2009 and highest in the county for 2010.

Countywide, the rate was 17 percent — 48 out of 276 locations.

In collaboration with the county Sheriff’s Department, the Public Health Department recruits mostly 15- and 16-year-old decoys as undercover operatives who try to buy tobacco products like Camel, Marlboro etc. The legal age to purchase tobacco products is 18.

The youth are given immunity by the county District Attorney’s Office for their participation as it is illegal for minors to possess tobacco under California Penal Code Section 308(b).

The undercover operation — held in May and June — is just one stroke and does not paint the entire portrait of illegal tobacco sales, said Dawn Dunn, administrator for the county’s Tobacco Prevention Settlement Program.

However, it is a snapshot of what they are like, she said. A higher sample size of stores visited is more likely to produce more reliable results and be more representative, she said.

Dunn could not explain why Buellton has had a high rate the past couple of years.

“Something is going on there,” she said. “I can’t exactly tell you what.”

The best prevention method is “real ID [card] checking” with every

tobacco sales interaction, Dunn said.

Tobacco is a “gateway drug,” Dunn said, citing a 2006 California Healthy Kids Survey finding of youth tobacco users being eight times more likely to binge drink and nine times more likely to smoke marijuana.

Typically, only the sales clerk is cited and fined for the illegal tobacco sale under California Penal Code Section 308(a).

However, in jurisdictions with a local tobacco retailer license, such as Santa Barbara, Goleta, and county areas, the business owner is held responsible as well.

Three of 37 locations — 8 percent — sold tobacco to minors in Santa Maria. A year earlier, the rate was 7 percent, three of 45 locations.

In Lompoc, four of 29 locations sold to minors, a rate of 14 percent. For 2009, the rate was 3 percent — one out of 41 retailers.

Only Guadalupe reported no sales to minors in 2009, however, one of seven stores, 14 percent, sold to minors in 2010.

In unincorporated areas, there were seven sales to minors from 59 locations — 12 percent.

Sales to minors in unincorporated areas grew from 10 percent — seven of 68 in 2008 — to 21 percent, 12 of 57 locations, in 2009.

On the South Coast, Santa Barbara posted a 27-percent rate, 21 of 78; Carpinteria reported a 18-percent rate, three of 17, and Goleta decreased from 17 percent in 2009 to 6 percent in 2010, two of 33.

A year ago, Santa Barbara and Carpinteria posted rates of 2 percent, one of 49; and 20 percent, three of 16, respectively.

Tags: tobacco products

This entry was posted by Jessica Miller on Tuesday, August 17th, 2010 at 1:16 pm and is filed under Cigarette Business. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.