Abstract
OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated an active enforcement program to increase retailers' compliance with the law prohibiting tobacco sales to minors. METHODS: Tobacco sales to minors were monitored in 319 outlets in 6 pairs of communities in Erie County, New York. One community in each pair was randomly assigned to an enforcement intervention. RESULTS: Retailers' compliance with the law increased from 35% in 1994 to 73% in 1995. However, the change in compliance rates was roughly the same for stores in the enforcement and nonenforcement communities. CONCLUSIONS: Active compliance checking of retail outlets as a strategy to reduce illegal tobacco sales to minors may only be necessary insofar as it contributes to an increase in retailers' perception that the threat of enforcement is real.
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Altman D. G., Rasenick-Douss L., Foster V., Tye J. B. Sustained effects of an educational program to reduce sales of cigarettes to minors. Am J Public Health. 1991 Jul;81(7):891–893. doi: 10.2105/ajph.81.7.891. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Cummings K. M., Saunders-Martin T., Clarke H., Perla J. Monitoring vendor compliance with tobacco sales laws: payment vs no payment approaches. Am J Public Health. 1996 May;86(5):750–751. doi: 10.2105/ajph.86.5.750-a. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- DiFranza J. R., Brown L. J. The Tobacco Institute's "It's the Law" campaign: has it halted illegal sales of tobacco to children? Am J Public Health. 1992 Sep;82(9):1271–1273. doi: 10.2105/ajph.82.9.1271. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Feighery E., Altman D. G., Shaffer G. The effects of combining education and enforcement to reduce tobacco sales to minors. A study of four northern California communities. JAMA. 1991 Dec 11;266(22):3168–3171. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Forster J. L., Komro K. A., Wolfson M. Survey of city ordinances and local enforcement regarding commercial availability of tobacco to minors in Minnesota, United States. Tob Control. 1996 Spring;5(1):46–51. doi: 10.1136/tc.5.1.46. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Jason L. A., Ji P. Y., Anes M. D., Birkhead S. H. Active enforcement of cigarette control laws in the prevention of cigarette sales to minors. JAMA. 1991 Dec 11;266(22):3159–3161. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Skretny M. T., Cummings K. M., Sciandra R., Marshall J. An intervention to reduce the sale of cigarettes to minors. N Y State J Med. 1990 Feb;90(2):54–55. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]