Tobacco News and Interesting Information

HOLLAND -- In Ottawa County, the Holland area is a "trouble spot" for underage tobacco sales, authorities say.

Last month, police stings caught 11 of about 30 stores checked selling cigarettes to teen decoys -- a ratio that Marcia Knol considers way too high.

"The newest data is showing that teens become addicted in as little as two to three weeks," said Knol, an Ottawa County Health Department educator and part of a four-county campaign called "No Cigs for Our Kids."

But with the quarterly "compliance" checks comes an ever-larger number of store clerks with misdemeanor criminal records for violating the law. The state Youth Tobacco Act calls for a $50 fine for clerks cited for selling cigarettes to anyone younger than 18, but provides no sanctions for the store.

The burden of this punishment -- often leaving low-wage clerks with a financial penalty they cannot afford -- is not lost on some authorities.

"I think it would make the stores more accountable if we could cite them for tobacco violations," said Holland police Sgt. John Darrow, who coordinates alcohol and tobacco stings with the health department.

He concedes Michigan's laws to stop underage tobacco buyers are weaker than its alcohol laws.

With tobacco, store clerks bear the brunt of any penalty for illegal sales. But with alcohol, the store can face Liquor Control Commission sanctions for illegal sales.

Darrow can sympathize with the financial pain suffered by clerks but said many cause their own troubles with inattentiveness and by ignoring warning signs. In some cases, clerks have overridden scanning machines that read a bar code on a driver's license and prevent a sale to an underage buyer.

In one instance, a scanning machine prevented a sale to a decoy, but the clerk then told the decoy to follow him into the parking lot. There, he gave the teen cigarettes from his car.

Police cited him for a tobacco violation.

Health officials said the violation rates during stings have ranged from a low of 15 percent to a high of 45 percent.

In the past two weeks, six clerks have been arraigned in Holland District Court for selling to minors.

Knol said the numbers are discouraging.

"It's frustrating, because 45 percent of them selling to kids is really bad," she said.

Police and health officials say high turnover among store clerks, making it difficult to properly train staff, is part of the problem. In some cases, store management "looks the other way" at illegal sales, Knol said, because cigarette sales are a good revenue source.

Lincolnshire Party Store, on Lincoln Avenue just south of U.S. 31, takes the opposite approach.

"My employees know that if they get fined, they are going to lose their job," said Cheata Lor, store owner. "We take the issue of ID cards very seriously."

Lor's store has a license scanner that cost $500, but she urges clerks to look at identification closely and not rely on the scanner.

She would not object to store citations for tobacco violations but said clerks also must be held responsible.

Ottawa County sheriff's Sgt. Jeff Somers agreed.

Today's licenses issued to teens are easier to read than ever and specifically identify when the cardholder turns 18 and 21.

"It is the clerk who is really responsible," he said. "They are the ones who are looking at the license.

"It's not like it used to be years ago when you had to do the math in your head," he said.

Police say they are not helpless when it comes to persuading stores to properly train employees.

Those that carry liquor licenses can be sanctioned for illegal tobacco sales, although police say the threat rarely is used.