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It can be easy for children to get their hands on cigarettes. Our cameras were rolling as 15-year-old volunteer girls try to buy cigarettes at a dozen different places in Spokane and Spokane Valley. The health district goes undercover more than 100 times a year to make sure stores are obeying the law and not selling cigarettes to minors. KREM 2 went along as four stores in our area were caught making the sale. The health district’s tobacco prevention team supervises the underage volunteers as they try to buy cigarettes in the store. Four out of 12 places sold to the girls/KREM2. More here.
Question: Should law enforcement spend much time cracking down on teen smokers?
D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.
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moscow_minidoka on November 20 at 1:56 p.m.
I'd prefer the police were cracking down on people running red lights and burglarizing people's homes, actually. But I suppose as long as they're not suffocating or shooting the underage tobacco purchasers, I shouldn't complain.
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RedMan on November 20 at 2:01 p.m.
Hey, I would rather have them concentrating on the armed robbers lurking around.
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Charlie on November 20 at 2:01 p.m.
Maybe law enforcement goes for the easy pinches, seat belts, speeding and not burglars or rapists. Just a thought.
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Phaedrus on November 20 at 2:26 p.m.
No, non, nein, nyet.
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tjh on November 20 at 2:28 p.m.
A better question might be whether we'd prefer the local TV media to be spending their time on teen smokers. I mean, really, should that have been the lead story on local TV news last night? This is what the tight-budget station sends its reporter to cover?
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bpoole on November 20 at 2:38 p.m.
No. Are the police departments lacking in things to do?
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Stickman on November 20 at 4:18 p.m.
I'm with Phaed, such a bunch of no's.
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Lewis on November 20 at 5:05 p.m.
with the decrease in man power due to budget cuts do they cops have time to bust teen smokers and of they do, do we really need any more cops? mean if they have time to track teen smokers they must have a lot of time on their hands.
I am hoping my taxes are paying to make us safer not get some teen killed because he goes into the wrong mini mart some time to buy some smokes.
Legalize weed then at least they would be smoking something that wont kill them.
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Cougcat on November 20 at 8:31 p.m.
Dave, your question is poorly worded, leading to comments that don't apply. The article clearly says the inspections are carried out by the health district, but your question implies that it it the police department doing them, as evidenced by the responses.
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spokelooneh on November 21 at 12:51 a.m.
Cougcat nails it.
NO COPS were involved. Does anybody even read anymore before going off on some misinformed rant?
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Stickman on November 23 at 3:08 p.m.
Sometimes.
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