Public Health Implications of Raising the Minimum Age of Legal Access to Tobacco Products (2015) / Chapter Skim
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5 Restrictions on Youth Access to Tobacco Products
5 Restrictions on Youth Access to Tobacco Products
Pages 129-154
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From page 129... ...
YOUTH TOBACCO ACCESS LAWS IN THE UNITED STATES Federal Youth Tobacco Access Laws In 1992 Congress enacted the Synar Amendment to reduce the availability of tobacco to underage individuals. This law requires states to 129
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From page 130... ...
The MSA also restricted cigarette pack size to a minimum of 20 cigarettes and prohibited tobacco companies from opposing legislation restricting cigarette pack size through 2001. The MSA further prohibited tobacco companies from legally challenging the enforceability or constitutionality of state and local tobacco control laws enacted before June 1, 1998, including state and local youth access laws that may have been enacted in compliance with Synar.
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From page 131... ...
Limits relevant to youth access include prohibiting FDA from banning face-toface sales by any specific type of tobacco retailer (i.e., FDA cannot ban all pharmacies or convenience stores from selling tobacco) and from raising the federal minimum age of legal access to tobacco products (MLA)
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From page 132... ...
have enacted laws prohibiting the sale or distribution of tobacco products to underage persons. All 51 jurisdictions prohibit commercial transfers, while 48 states and the District of Columbia also prohibit noncommercial transfers (e.g., giving, exchanging, bartering, furnishing, or otherwise distributing tobacco)
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From page 133... ...
Sanctions typically include a fine or community service. ENFORCEMENT OF YOUTH ACCESS LAWS This section summarizes current enforcement policies and practices at the federal, state, and local levels pertaining to youth access restrictions.
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From page 134... ...
1492) ; must develop a strategy to reduce the rate of illegal tobacco sales to underage persons to 20 percent or less by 2003; and must conduct annual compliance checks of retailers selling tobacco both over the counter and from vending machines to ensure compliance with the law.
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From page 135... ...
As such, violations may lead to escalating fines, from warning letters to civil monetary penalties to suspension or revocation of retailers' licenses to sell tobacco. Unlike Synar, FDA only requires inspection of over-the-counter tobacco retailers because the Tobacco Control Act restricts vending machines to adult-only facilities, to which underage persons should not have access.
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From page 136... ...
Thus, although there is general agreement that youth tobacco access laws must be actively enforced to reduce illegal tobacco sales to minors, there remains a profusion of enforcement strategies and little evidence about the relative effectiveness and efficiency of these various activities. In an effort to identify best practices, a study by DiFranza (2005)
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From page 137... ...
Since the 1990s, all states have adopted youth access laws and have seen significant improvements in retailer compliance. In 1997, immediately following the implementation of Synar, the national average rate of illegal tobacco sales to minors reported to Synar was greater than 40 percent, with a high of 72.7 percent in one state (SAMHSA, 2014)
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From page 138... ...
. FDA's authority under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act extends to online tobacco retailers, but as of September 2014 FDA's Center for Tobacco Products has issued only four warning letters to Internet vendors found selling to underage customers, and it is unclear to what extent the center will pursue these violations (FDA, 2014c)
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From page 139... ...
. It is to curb these transactions that almost all state youth access laws prohibit non-retail sources of tobacco to underage individuals.
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From page 140... ...
Limited evidence suggests that youth access restrictions against Internet sellers are weakly enforced and that tobacco products are relatively easily available to underage individuals who have credit cards. Although there is an illicit market for tobacco products diverted from legal channels, there is little evidence that underage individuals are obtaining tobacco from the illegal commercial market.
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From page 141... ...
Social sources Non-licensed non- commercial distributors Casual distributors Relatives, friends, and I asked someone to give me a strangers who give tobacco cigarette; Someone offered me to underage users a cigarette Proxy sources Relatives, friends, and I had someone else buy a pack strangers who purchase of cigarettes for me; I bought tobacco for underage users cigarettes from another person and are paid a small fee (e.g., a few dollars or a portion of tobacco) ; gray market Illicit tobacco dealers/Black Non-licensed dealers on market sellers illegal markets (e.g., sellers of untaxed cigarettes, $5 man, single or "loosie" cigarettes)
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From page 142... ...
" Among the students who said that they had purchased their own cigarettes, the most commonly cited specific source was "a gas station or convenience store" (45.8 percent of high school students)
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From page 143... ...
TABLE 5-2 Methods for Obtaining Cigarettes Among High School Students, by Age and Gender, National Youth Tobacco Survey, 2012 Percent of Smokers Age group Gender All ages 9–14 15–17 18+ Female Male 19. During the past 30 days, how did you get your own cigarettes?
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From page 144... ...
(CHOOSE ALL THAT APPLY) a. I did not buy cigarettes during the past 30 days -- -- -- -- -- -- b. A gas station or convenience store 45.8 28.5 43.1 72.3 45.6 46.0 c. A grocery store 7.2 9.5 4.7 13.4 6.6 7.7 d. A drugstore 7.6 8.5 6.2 11.3 7.6 7.6 e. A vending machine 3.6 8.2 2.2 3.8 2.3 4.6 f. Over the Internet 2.1 4.5 1.0 3.5 1.8 2.3 g. Through the mail 1.1 1.4 0.7 2.3 0.7 1.4 h. Some other place not mentioned here 19.3 39.8 17.0 5.9 16.5 21.2 SOURCE: Committee analysis of CDC, 2014.
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From page 145... ...
or a gas At 36.0 31.0 30.3 24.8 48.1 40.2 38.3 37.5 station e. From a website -- 4.4 5.2 6.0 -- 2.1 1.9 2.6 NOTE: Entries are percentages of current smokers reporting source of cigarettes. SOURCE: Committee analysis of Johnston et al., 2014a.
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From page 146... ...
or a gas At 58.7 57.2 49.2 53.3 81.1 77.3 77.6 72.5 station e. From a website -- 2.5 2.2 2.8 -- 2.2 1.7 2.5 NOTE: Entries are percentages of current smokers reporting source of cigarettes. SOURCE: Committee analysis of Johnston et al., 2014a.
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From page 147... ...
This shift in sources likely reflects the success of youth access restrictions at decreasing adolescents' access to
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From page 148... ...
Table 5-6 summarizes the responses by current smokers in the 2012 NYTS, by gender, to the question, "During the past 30 days, where did you buy your own cigars, cigarillos, or little cigars? " As was the case with cigarettes, by far the most commonly cited specific source among all the current smokers was a gas station or convenience store (44.0 percent)
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From page 149... ...
Table 5-8 summarizes the responses by current users of chewing tobacco, snuff, or dip in the 2012 NYTS, by gender, to the question, "During the past 30 days, where did you buy your own chewing tobacco, snuff, or dip? " Among all the current users, and similar to the case for both cigarette and cigar purchases, by far the most commonly cited specific source was a gas station or convenience store (43.4 percent)
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From page 150... ...
I got it some other way 11.7 16.5 10.8 SOURCE: Committee analysis of CDC, 2014. TABLE 5-8 Sources of Purchased Chewing Tobacco, Snuff, or Dip Among High School Students, by Gender, NYTS, 2012 Percent of Users Total Female Male 33. During the past 30 days, where did you buy your own chewing tobacco, snuff, or dip?
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From page 151... ...
2000. Factors associ ated with tobacco sales to minors: Lessons learned from the FDA compliance checks.
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From page 152... ...
2001. Sources of tobacco for youths in communities with strong enforcement of youth access laws.
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From page 153... ...
2007. Longitudinal patterns of youth access to cigarettes and smoking progression: Minnesota Adolescent Community Cohort (MACC)
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