San Fernando Valley tobacco control project: The effectiveness of merchant education and citizen citations to combat illegal tobacco sales to youth Phase 2

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.

The purpose of this project was to assess the enforcement and compliance of the STAKE Act Program (stop tobacco access to kids enforcement) among licensed retailers in the 7th District of Los Angeles City through a merchant education and Citizen Citation program. This is phase 2 of the original project conducted in 2006 where the researchers returned to stores that either renewed their tobacco retail licensure or stores in District 7 who purchased a new tobacco retail license. Baseline data was collected from 131 licensed retailers in the 7th District of the City of Los Angeles from September to November 2008. Store violators received an educational packet and a Citizen Citation. Four months later, a second attempted purchase was conducted 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.