 |
 |
By Amy C. Schweigert
Arizona Daily Wildcat
September 25, 1996
The work of a UA assistant research scientist has helped find that about 36 percent of Tucson vendors illegally sold tobacco products to minors over the past two months.Under a contract from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Hye-Ryeon Lee, an assistant research scientist in the Behavioral Sciences Program at the University of Arizona Cancer Center, has worked as the principal investigator evaluating the Full Court Press,
a program that the Johnson Foundation funds. The program's goal is to reduce teenage smoking by 10 percent by the year 2000, said Rachel Puchi, media specialist for Full Court Press.
Puchi said the program has received the largest grant ever in Pima County for tobacco use reduction. It received $3.2 million over five years from the foundation.
Lee, working with UA Communications Professor David Buller, is helping the Full Court Press adjust its implementation, she said.
For the past two months, the FCP has conducted undercover sting operations, focusing on such issues as retail vendors that sell tobacco products to children, easy access to tobacco products, nicotine addiction among youths and health effects of tobacco, a press release said.
The FCP used interns and volunteers, ages 14 to 17, as decoys in the sting operation.
Lee said the youths went to 314 vendors trying to buy tobacco products. Thirty-six percent, or 113 vendors, sold tobacco to the minors.
Although the sting operation has ended, Lee said she is continuing to conduct a lengthy survey among seventh, eighth, 11th and 12th graders in Tucson related to marketing, activism and their attitudes about tobacco.
By the middle of October, Lee said she would like to have surveyed a total of 6,000 students.
Kevin Eliason, loss prevention manager for the Arizona area of the Southland Corp., said it is the responsibility of the store owners to train their clerks properly regarding the law.
Tucson's 7 Eleven stores are under the direction of the Southland Corp.
Eliason said the corporation has "a bonafide, state-recognized" training program for its store owners.
Come of Age is a comprehensive, three-hour program consisting of a workbook and video instruction tape that educates store owners about selling restricted products, such as alcohol, tobacco and lottery tickets, he said.
Although Southland furnishes the training materials to 7 Eleven stores, Eliason said stores can elect to use a different training program.
"The bottom line is to make sure employees are trained," he said.
Eliason said he has not been personally notified of any incidents in Tucson's 7 Eleven stores regarding the illegal selling of tobacco to minors. However, he said that does not mean isolated incidents do not happen.
Stores selling tobacco to minors can be fined $300. Eliason said he could not comment if the Southland Corp. has any additional fines or punishments above and beyond the $300 fine.
In the future, he said he would like to see a law requiring everyone to show identification when buying restricted products.
"The public needs to know that 18 is the law," Eliason said.
|
|
|