Convenience Stores Most Likely to Sell Cigarettes to Kids

Mar. 23 --

TUESDAY, July 10 (HealthDay News) -- Nearly one in 10 tobacco sales in U.S. gas station convenience stores are to people under the age of 18, a new study shows.

Store clerks who were also under 18 showed very high sales to minors, the researchers found. However, underage sales were less likely when the clerk asked for identification.

In the study, Dave Pearson and colleagues at the Group Health Community Foundation in Seattle analyzed data from almost 9,000 compliance checks in King County, Wash., between January 2001 and March 2005. Compliance checks are performed by minors, who attempt to buy tobacco and then report the results.

The researchers found that tobaccos sales to minors were 7.7 percent of total tobacco sales during the study period and accounted for 9.3 percent of sales at convenience stores selling gas, 3.4 percent at tobacco stores, 5.2 percent at restaurants and 7.4 percent of total tobacco sales at grocery stores.

Pearson argues that convenience stores selling gas may provide more distractions for clerks who are then less likely to check age on identification.

"The federal Synar Amendment requires states to implement compliance check systems to verify that youth tobacco sales stay below 20 percent to receive federal substance abuse prevention and treatment dollars," Pearson said in a prepared statement. "We were surprised that gas-convenience stores were at highest risk for tobacco sales," he added.

The study is published in the July issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Compliance checks using minors are an effective way to help reduce underage smoking rates, the researchers add.

"The more compliance checks you do, the more compliance you get, which makes it harder for kids to get cigarettes and sends a consistent message about the product," Danny McGoldrick, vice president of research for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said in a prepared statement.

More information

To learn more about minors and tobacco use, visit the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

SOURCE: American Journal of Preventive Medicine, news release, July 10, 2007