By SCOTT REED
reed@newsroom.byu.edu
The Board of Utah County Commissioners and the local police are strengthening their efforts to put out teenage smoking.
'We check retailers by Food and Drug Administration laws and state laws on whether they are selling cigarettes to youth,' said Dr. Joseph Minor, director of the Utah County Health Department. 'Citations to the stores depend on which law we are checking for.'
The commissioners approved a memorandum of understanding Tuesday with the local police agencies in Utah County for the purpose of checking tobacco compliance. The approval will help the Utah County Health Department and the Food and Drug Administration continue a nationwide effort to encourage retailers to stop under-age smokers from buying cigarettes.
The aim of these groups is to prevent underage people from starting to smoke, which will cut down the number of illnesses in the future.
'Ninety percent of smokers start out as teenagers,' Minor said. 'That is why it is important to stop it now.'
The agreement replaces an older agreement the county has had with local law enforcement agencies, Minor said. With more money coming from the state and the FDA, he said the county can afford to pay a little more for the cooperation of law enforcement officials.
The program with the police is set up to see if retailers are following the law in sales of cigarettes. By federal law, retailers cannot sell tobacco to individuals under the age of 18 and should check the identification of anybody 27 and younger. The Utah law requires cigarette buyers to be 19 years old.
The health department takes a 16 or 17-year-old with parental permission to a retailer to buy cigarettes. If the minor can buy the cigarettes, a citation is issued by an officer who accompanies the health department.
'We encourage the program,' said Detective Jeff Wilson of the Pleasant Grove Police Department. 'It helps the retailer be aware of who they are selling to.'
Patricia Tucker, coordinator of the program said, 'We are not trying to entrap people. We are just trying to get people used to checking ID's.'
The national goal is to have underage sale rates less than 20 percent. Utah County has a rate of 8 percent.
'Some people say tobacco isn't being regulated, but our retailers need to be praised for their efforts,' Tucker said.
The program is trying to be a resource for retailers, she said. They are trying to keep the businesses up to date on the most recent laws.
When the Tobacco Free Utah program started four years ago in Utah County, one third of all stores were caught selling to minors, Tucker said. She said Utah County retailers are really good because they don't want to sell to minors. They want to update all of their education programs to help their employees understand the law better.
The FDA will give a warning the first time an illegal sale is made. After the first offense, the owner is held responsible and gets a fine. Synar, which is the state check, holds the clerk responsible and gives a citation with the first offense.
Both the Synar regulations and the FDA regulations allow random inspections to ensure compliance with the law.