San Fernando Valley tobacco control project: The effectiveness of merchant education and citizen citations to combat illegal tobacco sales to youth

The California Department of Health Services (2006) indicates high school smoking increased by 16 percent (2004-2006). Additionally, 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 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 was 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 program. In order to determine the effectiveness of the intervention in reducing tobacco sales to minors, baseline data was collected from 214 licensed retailers in the 7th District of the City of Los Angeles from February to April 2007. Store violators received an educational packet and a Citizen Citation. Four months later, a posttest was conducted from 196 licensed stores from September to November 2007. The results of the post-test indicated a 66% decrease in sales and demonstrated the effectiveness of the intervention in the community. Study results and future implications will be presented and discussed.