Smoking out sales of tobacco to minors

Larry Henry

Monday, March 9, 1998 | 10:10 a.m.

A statewide effort to crack down on stores that sell cigarettes to underage smokers will intensify now that the attorney general's office has received a federal grant to boost spot inspections.

Under a $234,000 contract signed last week with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa will add two investigators to her office.

Del Papa held a press conference at a Reno 7-Eleven Friday to announce the federal grant.

The investigators will accompany youths under the age of 18 to retail outlets and watch to see if clerks ask for identification when selling cigarettes and other tobacco products.

They are expected to conduct 3,300 spot investigations throughout Nevada.

The 1995 Legislature required the attorney general's office to conduct compliance checks.

Del Papa contracts with local police departments to handle surprise investigations. The two new investigators, while funded with a federal grant, will be state employees, Deputy Attorney General John Albrecht said.

In 1994, before the compliance program began, youths were able to buy cigarettes 63 percent of the time, Del Papa said.

By 1997, underage smokers were able to buy cigarettes only 19.8 percent of the time.

Nevada law permits the attorney general to prosecute the store or clerk.

On the first violation, the clerk is issued a warning. The second violation can lead to a $250 fine. After a third violation, a store or clerk can be fined up to $500.

Sens. Richard Bryan and Harry Reid, both D-Nev., helped obtain the federal money.

"Each day 3,000 young people become smokers," Bryan said. "Stopping kids from obtaining cigarettes at the point of purchase will help us reduce the number of kids who decide to start smoking."