Cigarette sales sting outcome pleasing

Only two retailers in the MidCentral and Whanganui district health board regions have been caught selling cigarettes to minors in the past six months.

The Public Health Service said the results of controlled purchase operations (CPOs) showed retailers were taking their role in the battle against under-age smoking seriously.

Since 2009, the Public Health Service has carried out 20 purchase stings in the MidCentral and Whanganui DHB regions and visited 238 tobacco retailers.

Health protection co-ordinator Tui Shadbolt said under-aged volunteers were only able to buy tobacco in 4 per cent of stores in the region in the past year.

Only two stores sold tobacco to minors in the past six months – one in Horowhenua and one in Tararua, but no sales to under-aged volunteers were recorded in the Palmerston North, Manawatu and Whanganui regions.

In both cases, the store owners were issued with written warnings.

Mrs Shadbolt said it was not policy to release names of the store owners unless they were being prosecuted.

Mrs Shadbolt said the results were pleasing.

"Overall, this is an improvement in compliance and shows the success of educational visits to local retailers. The aim of visits is to improve understanding of the potential impact for youth who start smoking and remind retailers of the need to ask younger customers for proof of age."

Prior to December 2009 the Ministry of Health had contractors run CPOs within the region only once or twice a year.

The ministry-run CPOs recorded sales to youth at 30 per cent of retailers visited, but Mrs Shadbolt said education programmes with retailers had also helped to bring numbers down.

"Their attitude is really changing. Our volunteers are coming out of these shops not only having been denied, but with their tails between their legs after also having been given advice they shouldn't be smoking at their age."

The Public Health Service has nine trained youth aged 14 to 16 who work as volunteers in the CPO programme.

But while CPOs were working well, regional smokefree officer Barry Thackwell said he was keen to hear from concerned parents or anybody else who suspected shops were selling cigarettes to under 18-year-olds.