More local stores found selling smokes to kids

Despite billion-dollar advertising campaigns warning that smoking cigarettes is a dangerous habit, about one in five high school seniors in Spokane County continue to light up.

The problem, officials worry, is that too many retailers are allowing teens to buy tobacco products.

Countywide tobacco prevention efforts took a big step backward in 2007 when a continuing sting operation found 23 area stores out of 115 sold tobacco to youths younger than 18, according to the Spokane Regional Health District.

The 80 percent compliance was down from 96 percent a year ago and reverses a six-year trend – a problem that frustrates health district officials.

“It’s more than just a little concerning to us,” said Scott Roy, of the district’s tobacco prevention program. “We’re very disappointed and need to reverse this.”

Four Albertsons stores and two Safeway stores were caught selling tobacco to teens who volunteered to try to buy cigarettes at the request of the health district.

The violations surprised Roy, because big grocery stores have software that prompts cashiers to check a tobacco purchaser’s identification before ringing up the sale. Cashiers have to manually override the prompt to finalize the sale.

Roy said in nearly t every case at the larger grocery stores, the cashiers looked at the buyers’ IDs, but either misread them or ignored the ages clearly listed on them. In just a couple of cases did the cashiers run the sales through without checking ages.

A phone call to the Albertsons division office overseeing the region’s stores was not returned.

Health district officials speculate that because cashier jobs are low-wage and subject to heavy employee turnover, people in those positions might not receive the training needed to comply with the law.

Cashiers who sell tobacco to youth are fined $50, though they may complete an education program and have the penalty erased. Each store is fined $100.

Second violations result in $300 fines, and third violations result in $1,000 store fines and suspension of licenses to sell tobacco.

Roy said most of the illegal sales were made to boys.

He said the teens used in the operation over the course of last year looked like and dressed as typical high school students.

It was just a few years ago that a Wal-Mart store in Spokane had its license to sell tobacco products suspended.

All regional Wal-Mart stores now have strict policies that include all tobacco sales going through one register.