By Janelle Waldock Maguire
Community Relations Specialist Minnesota Smoke-Free Coalition

Despite the fact that it is illegal for them to do so, teenagers can purchase tobacco with ease throughout Minnesota. Studies show that if communities have not taken action to reduce youth access, teens are able to buy tobacco nearly two-thirds of the times they attempt to do so.

The easy access that teens have to tobacco contributes to the growing rate at which their age group is becoming addicted to tobacco. The 1995 Minnesota Student Survey found that here in Minnesota, weekly tobacco use among 12th graders is up from 22% in 1989 to 29% in 1995. The use of tobacco has also risen dramatically among youth in grades six and nine.

The Minnesota Coalition for a Smoke-Free Society 2000 is concerned about the drastic increase of teen tobacco use. "We know that 90% of people who smoke began doing so during adolescence. If we can prevent the addiction during the teenage years, we are most likely preventing the addiction for a lifetime," says Smoke-Free Coalition President Dr. Stuart Hanson.

Because of these concerns, many Minnesota cities have made a commitment to keep tobacco out of the hands of youth. This problem has been most effectively addressed on the local level through city ordinances that incorporate creative strategies to reduce youth access to tobacco. A study by the Minnesota ASSIST project found that stores in cities without strong local ordinances were twice as likely to sell tobacco to minors than stores in cities with strong ordinances.1 The findings in this study were upheld by a study recently done by the Minnesota Attorney General's office.2

State law currently only holds individual clerks, rather than tobacco license holders, accountable for illegal tobacco sales to youth. Communities can adopt local ordinances to empower themselves to both hold merchants accountable for illegal tobacco sales to youth, and to adopt additional strategies to make it harder for teens to purchase tobacco.

The most effective strategy that cities can do to accomplish this goal is to put tobacco behind the counter. Self-service or "help yourself" displays are typically found in most stores that sell tobacco. Banning self-service displays reduces teen access in two important ways. First, teens report that these attractive countertop displays make shoplifting easy. Putting tobacco behind the counter makes shoplifting virtually impossible for teens, since tobacco is out of reach of the customer.

Second, banning self-service displays requires that teens request tobacco from the clerk, rather than passively sliding a pack of cigarettes in with other purchases. Having to ask a clerk for tobacco adds an extra barrier for underage teens who may already be nervous to attempt the purchase.

Over 100 Minnesota cities have adopted ordinances to reduce youth access to tobacco. Approximately 25 cities adopted ordinances in 1996 alone, including Prior Lake, Golden Valley, St. Cloud, Duluth, and St. Louis Park. The momentum to address the teens and tobacco issue on the local level will continue to grow as more cities realize the impact that local ordinances can have.

If you are interested in working on a local ordinance in your community, please feel free to call the Minnesota Smoke-Free Coalition at 612-641-1223 or write them at 1619 Dayton Avenue, Suite 204B, St. Paul, MN 55104. Sources:

This month marks the beginning of a five year campaign that was initiated by Lieutenant Governor Joanne Benson's Violence Prevention Interagency Task Force. It is a cooperative effort of state government and private sector partners, and is coordinated by Minnesota Children's Office of Drug Policy and Violence Prevention. The campaign aims at stirring every citizen to take individual responsibility for violence and its roots in everyday behavior. For more information, contact Ellie Webster, 612-296-2407 or fax: 612-297-5695 or e-mail: ellie.webster@state.mn.us.

1. Minnesota ASSIST. Compliance Check Campaign: The Effect of Youth Access Ordinances, 1996. 2. State of Minnesota, Office of the Attorney General. Tobacco Compliance Check Survey, 1996.