San Fernando Valley tobacco control project: Approach to reducing tobacco access by minors

According to the California Department of Health Services report (2006) high school smoking increased by 16 percent (2004-2006). In addition, smoking among middle school students nearly doubled from 3.9 percent in 2004 to 6.1 percent in 2006. Access to tobacco is one of the many risk factors associated with tobacco use among youth. Illegal tobacco sale rate among retailers in Los Angeles is approximately 40% and increases to 44% for retailers located within 1,000 feet of schools. In addition, Americans below poverty level are 40% more likely to smoke than those above poverty level. The purpose of this project is to reduce the illegal tobacco sales rate to minors among licensed retailers in the 7th District of Los Angeles City through a merchant education and Citizen Citation. In order to determine the effectiveness of the intervention in reducing tobacco sales to minors, baseline data will be collected from 211 licensed retailers in the 7th District of the City of Los Angeles from February to April 2007. One hundred and five stores will be randomly assigned to the experimental group. Store violators will receive an educational packet and a Citizen Citation. Four months later, a second attempted purchase will take place within the same stores to evaluate the effect (potential rates of decrease or increase in tobacco sales rates among retailers) of the Citizen Citation and merchant education. Program results and future implications will be presented and discussed.