No minor failure for cigarette retailers

Seventeen-year-old Kurtis Wiles tries to keep his cool when he walks up to a store counter to buy a pack of cigarettes.

"It's all about staying calm," he said. "You have to make eye contact."

If the clerk asks for an I.D., he hands over his real one. Wiles said the clerk usually glances at the card without actually reading it. Sometimes the clerk doesn't even ask his age.

When that happens, Wiles makes the purchase and heads outside, where an escort from the American Lung Association of Washington is waiting to learn whether the store followed federal laws forbidding tobacco sales to minors.

Lately, a lack of compliance has been a problem in Yakima, where nearly a third of randomly selected stores sold to minors. That's a compliance rate of 71 percent -- down significantly from last year's 87 percent.

"I think it's really irresponsible on their part," said Taylor Herrick, 17, a West Valley High School student who also works with the Lung Association. "Either they're allowing underage smoking or they're just being careless and not paying attention."

Dan Smith, a tobacco control manager at the Lung Association, said he thinks the falling compliance rate may be due to economic instability.

"Retailers are reaching out for every dollar they can get," he said. "When there's a customer standing in front of them with money, they aren't thinking about anything besides that money."

Herrick said she has been involved in anti-smoking efforts since she was a little girl because she wants to persuade her father to stop smoking. Students who serve as youth operatives for the Lung Association get credit for community service or $25 per outing.

Retailers and clerks who fail the first test are fined $100 and $50, respectively. If it happens again, a store can face a $1,000 fine and suspension of its tobacco license.

When a store fails a compliance check, the teen poses for a picture in front of the retailer's sign sporting his or her new pack of cigarettes, and the state Liquor Control Board carries out the appropriate punishment.

But if the clerk declines to sell the cigarettes, the Lung Association escort enters the store to congratulate the clerk and award the retailer with a sticker indicating its success.

Federal law requires every state to conduct random checks annually. The latest rounds in Yakima were conducted at 24 businesses from January to June.

Federal law requires each state to attain an average 80 percent minimum compliance rate or else face a potential reduction in federal block grants for substance abuse programs. Despite the falling compliance rate in Yakima, state averages have remained above 90 percent since 2005.

Herrick said she tries to be convincing by ordering Swisher Sweets, since she knows the miniature cigars are popular -- and it works.

"(The clerks) don't care," Wiles said. "I think it's the manager's fault because they need to train their employees better."

Lung Association officials will conduct 180 site visits over the next year giving managers information packets about the importance of teaching their clerks to obey federal tobacco laws.

They have also been broadcasting an educational advertisement on the radio 12 times daily since the end of June explaining what happens when retailers fail compliance tests.

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