Illegal Sales Of Cigarettes To Minors At 10-Year High In Dane County

Minors were successful about 20 percent of the time in purchasing tobacco and nicotine products in Dane County and Madison in 2016. Some of those sales were made even though the clerk asked for proof of age and looked at an ID saw an age younger than 18 years-old, said Nina Gregerson, assistant coordinator for Tobacco Free Columbia-Dane County Coalition.

“Those rates (of illegal sales to minors) just keep creeping up higher and higher, and its really unfortunate to see,” Gregerson said.

Public health workers in the state recruited minors to participate in the unannounced compliance checks as part of a state program called Wisconsin Wins. The program is designed to reduce youth access to tobacco and e-cigarettes, which don’t have tobacco but contain nicotine.

The illegal sales rates to minors for 2016 reached a 10-year-high for both Madison and Dane County, Gregerson said.

The spike in illegal sales comes at a time when cigarette smoking is at an all-time low in Wisconsin. “Among adults the smoking rate is 17 percent in Wisconsin, and among high school students it’s around 10 or 11 percent,” she said.

It’s not clear if rates have gone down because cigarette smokers are switching to e-cigarettes, which have gained popularity. Social norms are also changing and more people avoid smoking because of health concerns, Gregerson said.

“It’s a mixture of things, it’s not necessarily because people are switching to e-cigarettes,” she said.

About 2,900 kids under age 18 in Wisconsin become new daily smokers each year, according to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.

The fine in Madison for selling tobacco or nicotine products to a minor is $73 a time. In Dane County, the fine for the first offense is much higher at $232. Citations are issued to both the clerk and the business owner for illegally selling minors such items as cigarettes, cigarillos, smokeless tobacco, e-cigarettes and e-juice.

“When those retailers do violate the law the first time around we do send a reminder letter after the violation occurs to promote the training again,” Gregerson said.

The report states that in Dane County, excluding Madison, 208 inspections resulted in 40 improper sales. In Madison, there were 192 compliance checks; 36 were improper sales.

Smoking takes a toll in two ways: on a person’s health and pocketbook.

“Tobacco and nicotine addiction does cost Dane County an estimated $290 million every year,” Gregerson said. “And it’s our responsibility to drive down those costs and make sure a new generation does not become addicted to these products.”