Editorial 1-31
Youth tobacco access problem needs solution
Anti-smoking groups in Alberta have been working very hard over the past decade to reduce youth tobacco use ñ and to encourage other young people to never take up the habit in the first place.
Those efforts have included lobbying the province to impose strict limits on cigarette displays in convenience stores.
The government has also taken action by passing legislation that makes it unlawful for anyone under the age of 18 to possess any tobacco product.
And while the anti-smoking lobby has undoubtedly convinced a good many young people to reject tobacco use, many other youths, including underage boys and girls, continue to smoke and chew.
Now the findings of a survey conducted by Alberta Action on Smoking and Health, an anti-smoking lobby group, point to at least one major crack in the anti-youth-smoking effort in this province.
ASH recently conducted an undercover operation where it used 16- and 17-year-olds to attempt to purchase cigarettes at convenience stores in urban and rural communities.
The survey found that two-thirds of convenience store clerks approached were prepared to sell tobacco products to young people ñ even when the shoppers produced identification showing they were in fact underage.
ìThese results are appalling,î said ASH spokesperson Les Hagen. ìWe have a problem in this province with retailers selling tobacco to minors.î
The findings point to a need for Alberta to do more to stop youths getting their hands on tobacco products, he says.
ìWe are calling for effective provincial legislation to curb tobacco sales to minors,î he said.
As well as asking for tougher legislation, the ASH is also floating a fairly radical new idea ñ that tobacco product sales in Alberta be restricted to adult-only retail shops.
ìTobacco sales need to be regulated in a manner similar to liquor sales with the potential for licence suspensions and higher fines,î he said.
While restricting tobacco sales to outlets were young people are not permitted would certainly curtail youth access to cigarettes and chew, such a move would also raise a big question.
That is, why should law-abiding convenience store retailers who currently make a portion of their income selling tobacco to adults lose that income because of the dishonesty of other owners?
While no one can argue that young people should be kept well away from tobacco products, this new ASH proposal may actually be taking things a step too far.
Wouldn't dramatically increasing fines for violating convenience store clerks and owners be a better, and far simpler, solution to the youth tobacco access problem?
