Compliance among City of Madison tobacco vendors to strict laws banning tobacco sales to minors dropped ten percent from last year, according to reports from the Madison Department of Public Health and the Dane County Division of Public Health. This year's compliance rate, 85 percent, decreased from the previous year's 95 percent rate.
The ten percent drop in compliance yielded a rise in violations due to a break in regular inspections taking place from July of 2004 to March 2005, according to John Hausbeck, Environmental Epidemiologist for the Department of Public Health.
"Generally, tobacco vendors pay more attention to the law when they feel that there's someone out there making regular inspections," Hausbeck said in response.
The inspections are a part of the statewide Wisconsin Wins program, which the state implemented after failing to meet the requirements of the Synar Amendment. The amendment is a federal law requiring states to implement and enforce a ban on tobacco sales to minors. Hausbeck said a failure to reduce illegal sales would result in a threatened reduction in federal substance-abuse prevention and treatment block-grant funds, amounting to a $10 million loss for the state.
The inspections, conducted in Madison and throughout Dane County by the Department of Public Health, use underage employees who attempt to buy cigarettes from a particular vendor, according to Hausbeck.
In stores that do not check for an ID, both the holder of the tobacco license and the clerk receive a fine of $52.40. More than one violation in a 12-month period can result in a $500 fine and a possible 30-day suspension of the tobacco license. After concluding the most recent round of inspections in August, the agencies collected more than $8000 in fines.
"[Typically] we see an increase in compliance after the first offence," Hausbeck said. "The vast majority of the time, the clerk just hasn't been informed or doesn't understand the importance of the law."
While compliance in the city of Madison decreased, Dane County's record improved by 6 percent to rest at 93.3 percent.
The Dane County's program has only been in place for one year and has been successful in deterring stores from selling to minors, according to Ryan Sheahan, Program Coordinator for Tobacco Free Dane County Coalition.
"We find that the stores that are most compliant are the ones that offer more employee-training," Sheahan said. "Stores further from the city are less used to checking for IDs."
Andrew Eeaulieu, a manager at Badger Liquor, one of the stores cited in recent inspections, said he thought the inspections were fair.
"It's your job to card people, so if you miss it, you obviously should be punished for it," Eeaulieu said. "I think a lot of employees get lax with it because they think they recognize the customer, not just at our store but in general."
But inspections alone will not stop underage people from smoking Hausbeck said, adding education in schools is a necessary part of the program.
"We know lots of teens get cigarettes from peers and parents, but many buy them and this is an important step," Hausbeck said. "We don't believe this is a solution to teen smoking."
