'Third of shops' selling tobacco to minors

PAMELA NEWENHAM

Approximately one third of minors are illegally able to purchase cigarettes from retailers, a new study has found.

The National Tobacco Retail Audit - 2009 Monitoring Report , published today, examined how compliant tobacco retailers were with legislation regarding the sale of cigarettes to minors.

It concluded children have “an unacceptably high chance” of purchasing cigarettes through shops and licensed premises.

The study carried out by the Office of Tobacco Control found almost a third of shopkeepers to be disregarding laws that prohibit the sale of cigarettes to minors.

More than one-third of minors were able to buy cigarettes in licensed premises, though compliance among these premises increased 28 per cent from 37 per cent in 2008 to 65 per cent this year. Compliance among retailers was up 8 per cent, from 60 per cent in 2008 to 68 per cent in 2009.

Office of Tobacco Control chief executive Éamonn Rossi said although a clear improvement in compliance culture had occurred among retailers, there was still a long way to go.

“While we welcome the increase, still one third of minors can buy cigarettes”.