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DC to Crack Down on Cigarette Sales to Minors [06/10-4]

Excerpts from: New Crackdown Targets Tobacco Sales to Minors Federal Substance Abuse Grant at Stake

By Avram Goldstein Washington Post [06/10/04]

The District has launched a new crackdown on the sale of tobacco products to children, part of a costly strategy to avoid losing federal grant money.

The campaign will be a year-round effort and will send undercover teenagers to about half of the 1,700 stores licensed to sell tobacco in the city.

The goal is to reduce the rate of underage sales of a product that sharply increases the probability of serious health problems later, health officials say. Last year, the city sent undercover teenagers to 732 stores and found that 41.9 percent of them were able to purchase tobacco.

Last year, the District's compliance rate was only 58.1 percent, well below that allowed by the federal overseers of the program.

As a result, the federal grant this year requires the District to use $1.46 million of local funds for various programs run by the Health Department's Addiction Prevention and Recovery Administration.

The penalty for another poor performance this year would be severe, said Robert L. Johnson, APRA's recently appointed director. If the compliance rate is not brought up to 80 percent, the District grant will shrink by $2.4 million in 2005, he said.

Previous annual campaigns, which began in 1997, occurred only in the summertime. This year's crew of undercover kids -- all District residents -- will work year-round in the company of D.C. police officers, who are expected to issue criminal citations to violators. The law carries maximum penalties of $1,000 and 90 days in jail for repeat offenders.

The test of compliance is simple, Johnson said. The undercover agents are under 18 and carry identification cards with their actual ages. "It's a question of, are you looking at the ID?" he said.

Several convenience store owners around the city said they are ready for the program and support the city's goals of reducing underage tobacco use. Armando Amora, manager of a 7-Eleven in Takoma Park, said his employees check everyone who looks 27 years old or younger. "We ask 99 percent of them," and about 10 customers a day are turned away for lacking proof of age, he said.

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