Bristol retailers still selling cigs to kids
Bristol retailers are still selling cigarettes to young people it was revealed this week. A series of Trading Standards undercover operations that found South West (including Bristol) retailers selling cigarettes to underage youngsters was discussed at a conference hosted by South West of England Trading Standards Partnership (SWERCOTS) in Exeter, along with other projects on the sale of illicit tobacco, the availability of smokeless tobacco products and the sale of tobacco over the internet.
“There is no excuse in 2009 for Bristol retailers to sell cigarettes to children and very young people. We are very disappointed that some local retailers are not taking the message seriously and we will continue to enforce the legislation against them until they do”. Said Cllr Gary Hopkins, Cabinet Member for Environment and Community Safety”.
Operation Reality Check involved a series of test purchasing operations across the South West concentrated on common sources of tobacco for under 18s – shop sales and cigarette vending machines. Despite the increase, in 2007, of the minimum age for buying cigarettes from 16 to 18 years old, it was found that youngsters were not asked their age and, on occasions, were even helped to buy cigarettes from vending machines. Of the twenty shops visited in Bristol 70% sold cigarettes to underage shopping volunteers without checking.
In the South West as a whole even more alarming were the operation results concerning sales from vending machines where over 73% of the volunteers aged 14 to 16 were able to purchase cigarettes. In several instances the young people were even helped to operate the machines or given change by bar staff.
Shops in Bristol who did sell cigarettes to the underage volunteers are currently being investigated by Trading Standards.
The series of test purchasing operations across the South West of England used two female volunteers of a similar age. One volunteer did not ‘dress-up’, wear make up and was not allowed to lie about their age. The other dressed in more fashionable clothes, was able to wear make up and act in a more realistic manner but was still not allowed to use any false identification.
Although there was a slight rise in sales with the more realistic scenario, the overall conclusion was that it appeared to make little difference as to whether a shop sold or not. Far more important was the general attitude of the business towards underage sales in general. None of our volunteers were ever asked their age and on some occasions where identification was requested a sale still took place even though none was shown.
Councillor Hopkins said: “The damage done to an individual’s health by smoking tobacco is well known and one of the most effective measures we can take is to stop young people from smoking in the first place. It is important that retailers remember the Think 21 message and apply it diligently. It is their responsibility to ensure that under 18’s are not able to purchase tobacco and cigarettes. We recognise that this is not always straight forward but Trading Standards followed up the test purchasing exercise with advice visits to support businesses in reaching this objective. It is vital to ensure that access to tobacco products is restricted and that staff are fully trained to challenge young people for proof of age.”
Director for Public Health Dr Hiugh Annett said “This is a disappointing result for Bristol. We know that the younger a person is when they start to smoke the more likely they are to become a long term smoker, increasing the risks to their long term health and shortening their lives. We have an extensive education programme in Bristol (ASSIST) to prevent young people from taking up smoking and work very closely with Trading Standards Department to actively promote enforcement of age-related tobacco sales legislation.”
Stephen Meale Head of Bristol Regulatory Services added: “The conference allowed us to focus on the shocking findings of these operations and the wider problems of illicit tobacco sales in the South West. This regionally coordinated work on such a large scale is unusual and has allowed us to obtain a much clearer picture of some of the issues involved
Any Bristol business wishing to get further advice about how they can prevent the sale of age restricted products to young people can contact Trading Standards on 0117 922 3604.
