Survey tracks sales of tobacco to minors

WARREN -- Results from a recent tobacco compliance survey coordinated by the Trumbull County Health Department show a continuing decline in the percentage of stores selling cigarettes to underaged customers.

The health department survey of 48 randomly selected stores last month showed that only 6 percent of stores sold cigarettes to underaged consumers.

In the 2000 survey, 15 percent of the stores sold cigarettes to the teens; in 1994 -- the first year of the survey -- 90 percent of stores surveyed sold cigarettes illegally.

The health department attributes the lower figures to vendor awareness of the law and effective clerk training, a decrease of 9 percent from 2000.

Four teams of 15- and 16-year-old boys and girls attempted to purchase cigarettes at each of the locations. The teens were instructed not to lie about their ages or use false IDs.