Some 24 percent of Kaua’i stores failed recent inspections aimed at enforcing state law prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to people under 18 years of age. In a new enforcement twist, though, the state Department of Health is publishing
Some 24 percent of Kaua’i stores failed recent inspections aimed at enforcing state law prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to people under 18 years of age.
In a new enforcement twist, though, the state Department of Health is publishing in newspaper advertisements the names of stores that pass and fail inspections.
On Kaua’i, nine stores big and small from Kapa’a to Koloa failed inspections, while 28 others from Po’ipu to Kapa’a passed the tests, conducted by 15- or 16-year-old volunteers carrying picture identification showing they are legally too young to buy tobacco products, accompanied by undercover Kaua’i Police Department officers and adult volunteers.
According to Julian Lipsher, program coordinator for the tobacco prevention and education program of the state Department of Health, owners and managers feel embarrassed and responsible when their employees fail inspections by selling tobacco products to youngsters under 18.
Clerks who either failed to ask for identification or otherwise sold to under-18 inspectors are embarrassed, responsible, and poorer, as they were given KPD citations carrying fines of $500 to $2,000.
In certain cases, the clerks are embarrassed, responsible, poorer and unemployed, as some stores have strict policies that if you are caught selling tobacco products to people under 18, you’re terminated.
In most instances, that’s unfortunate for several reasons, not to mention the job loss in a low-paying field already plagued with high turnover rates, said Lipsher.
He sees opportunities to teach clerks how to effectively and painlessly say “no” when they are caught selling tobacco products to minors.
And a new, untrained clerk is oftentimes a citation waiting to happen.
The DOH will continue conducting around 100 inspections a month at stores around the state, he promised.
In a few short months of inspections, the statewide inspection failure rate has dropped from around 44 percent to around 20 percent. But state officials can’t get it any lower than that, to a target failure rate of only 10 percent.
That would send the message that if you are under 18 and want to buy tobacco products, you will be turned away, he said.
So, is the inspection program working?
Lipsher puts it this way: If there were no inspections, there would be a lot more sales of tobacco products to minors occurring.
The newspaper ads encourage those merchants who failed inspections to call DOH to be re-inspected, but few have called, he said.
Merchants know that selling tobacco products to those under 18 is against the law, and share the DOH’s concern that they need to do a better job policing themselves, and training staff not only to check for identification when selling tobacco products to young-looking customers, but also the tactful way to say “no” to those who don’t have identification or plainly look too young to legally purchase tobacco products, he continued.
“It needs to be a community responsibility, (that) tobacco shouldn’t be in the hands of young people,” said Lipsher, defending the DOH’s decision to publish the names of stores that pass and fail inspections.
“There is really no reason to sell tobacco to minors,” and clerks and managers need to understand that they are contributing to a tobacco-free society and keeping their neighbors’ children from getting addicted to cigarettes by saying “no” to minors, Lipsher said.
Still, he hears a myriad of excuses from both clerks (“I didn’t do the math correctly,” “I misread the date”) and from those underage people trying to buy tobacco products (“I’m buying for a friend,” “I forgot my ID”).
It is not the purpose of the program to bust clerks selling tobacco products to minors, and it doesn’t use 17-and-a-half-year-olds or girls wearing makeup to make them look older than they really are, Lipsher explained.
“We’re not trying to trick or trap anybody.” The purpose of the inspections is to encourage stores and employees to say “no” all year long to minors trying to buy tobacco products.
The DOH will provide training materials, information on laws, and any other forms of encouragement the store owners, managers and clerks feel they may need in order to be able to identify under-18 patrons trying to buy tobacco products, and tactfully say “no” to them in a non-confrontational way.
Stores that consistently pass inspections are those where clerks are properly trained and given refresher information on laws, store policies and polite ways of saying “no” to minors attempting to buy tobacco products, he said. Stores that consistently fail are generally those where clerks aren’t properly trained.
Clerks, owners and managers need to understand, though, that the inspections will continue on a monthly basis, at stores large and small, on Kaua’i and statewide.
“No one’s immune” from the inspections, he said.
He thinks that stores that consistently pass the inspections would enjoy increased business from a caring community as a result of the newspaper ads.
“It is appreciated,” he said of the efforts of the stores that consistently pass inspections.
Staff Writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
