Impediments to the enforcement of youth access laws
Joseph R DiFranzaa, Nancy A Rigottib
a Department of Family
and Community Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical Center,
Worcester, Massachusetts, USA, b Tobacco Research and Treatment Center, Division
of General Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical
School, Boston, Massachusetts
Correspondence to: Dr JR DiFranza, University of Massachusetts Medical Center 55 Lake Ave North, Worcester, Massachusetts 01655, USA; joe.difranza{at}banyan.ummed.edu
Received 26 June 1998 and in revised form 10 December 1998;
Accepted 23
December 1998
OBJECTIVE
To recognise obstacles to
the implementation of the effective enforcement of tobacco sales laws
and to identify measures that could be taken to overcome these obstacles.
DESIGNInterviews were conducted
with health department officials in Massachusetts communities to
determine why their efforts to prevent illegal sales of tobacco to
minors had been only partially successful.
SETTINGUrban, suburban, and rural
communities in Massachusetts, USA.
RESULTSOrganisational problems,
court challenges to citations, budgetary threats, and political
pressure all combined to reduce the frequency of enforcement
inspections to half the intended rate. Political pressure resulted in
the exclusion of older youths from compliance tests, further
undermining enforcement efficacy.
CONCLUSIONSSuggestions for
addressing the problems include obtaining support from the community,
keeping elected and court officials informed about plans for merchant
education and law enforcement, using efficient enforcement protocols,
setting merchant compliance goals, and advising the public and
government officials about progress towards those goals, using older
youths to make purchase attempts, and testing all merchants frequently.
Keywords: tobacco sales; access laws; adolescents
© 1999 by Tobacco Control
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