AG wants strict local laws on tobacco sales to minors

Arizona’s top law enforcement official wants cities across the state to adopt strict local laws to punish retailers who sell cigarettes to minors.

Attorney General Terry Goddard said Wednesday he believes a Tucson ordinance that can put retailers out of the tobacco business is making shop owners more reluctant to break the law than elsewhere. Of 100 stores recently checked, in “sting” operation just six provided cigarettes to those younger than 18.

By contrast, more than one out of every four shops checked in other cities ignored the law.

The stings conducted in April and May involved state health officials sending teens into randomly picked stores.

Goddard said the inspections should not have come as a surprise.

He said ads were placed in local papers about a week before spelling out the laws against sales to minors. And while those ads did not specifically say that inspectors would be coming, they did include a “reminder” that health officials and law enforcement conduct “compliance checks.”

The record outside of Tucson was spotty.

For example, more than half the retailers checked in Mesa sold tobacco products to minors. Compliance was even worse in Tempe, where 63 percent of stores ignored the law.

Other communities did somewhat better.

The rate of noncompliance in Prescott was just 31 percent. Yuma retailers sold tobacco to those 17 and younger more than one time out of every five.

Goddard said the tougher Tucson ordinance seems to be making a difference.

The stores caught in the latest round of compliance checks are subject to state fines of up to $300.

Tucson’s ordinance does not impose penalties for a first or second offense. But a third sale to a minor within a 12-month period means the store cannot sell tobacco products to anyone for 24 hours.

That doesn’t just apply to ringing up sales. The ordinance requires all tobacco products to be removed from the premises during suspension.