Tulsa World: Tobacco sales to minors rising in Oklahoma

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Tobacco sales to minors rising in Oklahoma
If more than 20 percent of retailers are cited, some major funding could go up in smoke.

By KIM ARCHER World Staff Writer
Published: 5/7/2009 2:27 AM
Last Modified: 5/7/2009 3:39 AM

Documents: View a PDF of a list of all of the stores targeted in the 2008 ABLE tobacco sales sting and see which ones made illegal sales.

Illegal tobacco sales to minors are rising in the state, endangering millions of dollars in federal funding used to help Oklahomans recover from addiction, state officials said Wednesday.

"Thousands of Oklahomans' lives are at risk and millions of dollars needed for treatment services are in jeopardy," said Commissioner Terri White of the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.

If more than 20 percent of the state's retail stores are cited for selling tobacco for minors, an estimated $7 million, or 40 percent, of federal substance abuse block grant funds could be stripped from the agency.

Unfortunately, the state's noncompliance rates have begun to creep near that threshold, White said.

In 2008, 18.1 percent of Oklahoma retailers were found to have sold tobacco to minors, up from 8.5 percent two years earlier, ABLE statistics show.

"That's the frustrating part. These 20 percent of retailers are putting critical services at risk," White said.

Although to her knowledge Oklahoma has never surpassed the 20-percent threshold, White has seen it happen in other states, and it proved devastating.

"Already, we can't provide enough services for the estimated

250,000 Oklahomans who need drug or alcohol treatment services. In a tough economic climate, this will further the decline and cause undue hardship on individuals, their families and communities," she said.

But White is fighting back. In an effort to shed light on tobacco sales to minors, she released a list of retail outlets that sold tobacco products to minors in 2008, as well as those that didn't.

"The fact that so many retailers didn't sell these products to minors suggests that there is no excuse for the other 20 percent to continue breaking the law and putting our state's youth and federal funding at risk," she said.

The late Oklahoma congressman Mike Synar authored the 1993 amendment that requires states to maintain a compliance rate of at least 80 percent on illegal tobacco sales to minors to keep the federal block grant funding.

In 2004, the state Legislature strengthened the laws on selling tobacco to minors by enacting the Prevention of Youth Access to Tobacco Act, White said.

That law holds store owners, rather than store clerks, responsible for selling tobacco to minors. And for the first time, the law allowed the Oklahoma Tax Commission to suspend a store's license to sell tobacco products if it sold them to minors.

The loss of $7 million in federal funding "can devastate our already underfunded addition system. We have a waiting list of 600 people waiting for substance abuse treatment," White said.

Tobacco sales are monitored by the state Alcoholic Beverage Laws Enforcement Commission. ABLE agents routinely inspect retail stores throughout the state on a random basis to determine compliance rates.

During a "buy" operation, select teenagers are sent to try to purchase tobacco products. If the minor successfully purchases tobacco, the retailer receives a citation and a fine. If a retailer gets three citations in a two-year time period, its license to sell tobacco products can be suspended for 30 days, White said.

"Anytime we're selling tobacco to minors, we're doing a huge disservice to our youth," she said.

Ron Edgmon, president of the Oklahoma Grocers Association, said his organization works diligently to educate retailers about the consequences of selling tobacco to minors.

"We try to keep it front-of-mind," he said. "Most retailers have a 'no-tolerance' rule. Keeping tobacco products out of kids' hands it a critical part of our business models."

Retailers have no good reason to sell tobacco to minors, particularly since the consequences can be costly, Edgmon said.

"There's no value in it," he said. "But what we really stress is it's the right thing to do."

Kim Archer 581-8315
kim.archer@tulsaworld.com By KIM ARCHER World Staff Writer

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Some reader comments for this story were copied from "Illegal tobacco sales to minors are rising in Oklahoma," which was published on 5/6/2009.

	Report Comment Just a country boy, North Okmulgee County (5/6/2009 8:27:52 PM) I thought that the increase in taxes was supposed to stop this. Guess they figured that wrong too.
	Report Comment Bullhead, Nicut (5/6/2009 9:43:34 PM) They'll find a way to buy them.. or steal them. Tobacco is so addictive, they'll find a way.
	Report Comment KJNOKIE, TULSA (5/7/2009 6:41:40 AM) Easy. Increase penalties. For clerk and store.
	Report Comment my view, Sand Springs (5/7/2009 8:36:34 AM) KJNOKIE, Increase penalties that would help, the state could also suspend their tobacco license. Without it they [stores] could no longer sell tobacco products.
	Report Comment FS, Broken Arrow (5/7/2009 12:15:23 PM) Sales to minors are increasing because ABLE can't or won't do its job. It's rather simple ...
	Report Comment moogle, Tulsa (5/7/2009 4:36:52 PM) Indicative of how responsible the parent or parents are.
	Report Comment vrcTulsa, Okmulgee (5/8/2009 2:32:34 PM) This is just lazyness on the part of retailers not impossing strict consequences on individuals who are caught selling tobacco or alcohol products to minors. It takes all of about 30 seconds to get someone's ID, make sure its valid and check the DOB on it. I have worked in retail now for over 10 years and have NEVER sold to anyone underage. It also reflects parenting standards. Children will do what they want, but more so, when they know their parents aren't paying attention.
	Report Comment tobacco, Oklahoma City (6/16/2009 1:13:31 PM) The article asked what is a good reason for selling tobacco to minors? That's simple. MONEY!! The ordinances even support that answer. In two years, a retailer can sell hundreds/thousands of packs of ciggarettes or cans of smokeless tobacco to youth, making more than enough money to cover the thiry day ban on their sales if they're caught (get ready), three times in that time frame. Think you'd take the risk? Now the real problem. A youth that buys successfully knows that it's illegal , but since they didn't get caught, they assume(learn) that it's okay to buy and break the law. They also learn that we (adults) don't follow through on or expectations or consequences. They also become addicted which leads to future addicted adults. Can we stop this? The real question is do we really want to? We can move all products that we don't want the youth to have to a restricted sales location. (liquor stores).. The local mom and pops and convenience stores are supposedly there for other conveniences not just alcohol & tobacco. But if we look closely we see that the bulk of their income is made from alcohol and tobacco. We know this, but are we brave enough to do something. The industry doesn't want this restriction, the retailers doesn't want it either , but if you're really concerned about the youth and our future health, this will be your best choice of action.
	Report Comment tobacco, Oklahoma City (6/16/2009 1:16:46 PM) The article asked what is a good reason for selling tobacco to minors? That's simple. MONEY!! The ordinances even support that answer. In two years, a retailer can sell hundreds/thousands of packs of ciggarettes or cans of smokeless tobacco to youth, making more than enough money to cover the thiry day ban on their sales if they're caught (get ready), three times in that time frame. Think you'd take the risk? Now the real problem. A youth that buys successfully knows that it's illegal , but since they didn't get caught, they assume(learn) that it's okay to buy and break the law. They also learn that we (adults) don't follow through on or expectations or consequences. They also become addicted which leads to future addicted adults. Can we stop this? The real question is do we really want to? We can move all products that we don't want the youth to have to a restricted sales location. (liquor stores).. The local mom and pops and convenience stores are supposedly there for other conveniences not just alcohol & tobacco. But if we look closely we see that the bulk of their income is made from alcohol and tobacco. We know this, but are we brave enough to do something. The industry doesn't want this restriction, the retailers doesn't want it either , but if you're really concerned about the youth and our future health, this will be your best choice of action. Hiawatha (OKC)

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