II. INCREASED LAW ENFORCEMENT EFFORTS

Government at all levels, has begun to seriously address the problem of youth access to tobacco. Consequently, we can expect to see much stricter enforcement of laws prohibiting the sale of tobacco to minors in the near future. Historically, some states have been much more active than others. In Florida for example, a tobacco enforcement staff of the Department of Business Regulations (funded by tobacco vendor licensing fees) conducts compliance checks using underage test shoppers, observes buys and responds to consumer complaints about retailers who sell tobacco to minors. In Vermont, the Department of Liquor Control recently sent signs, posters and license applications to all tobacco retailers in the state. A team of fourteen liquor control inspectors then conducted random, unannounced visits to monitor compliance. Utah, California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Dakota, New Jersey and many other states fund local initiatives to reduce youth access as part of broader tobacco control efforts. On the local level, many towns and smaller municipalities and communities conduct their own compliance checks, issue citations, collect funds, and where permitted, suspend a vendor's license for violations.

The Massachusetts Attorney General recently conducted a state wide investigation to determine the level of compliance with that state's laws prohibiting the sale of tobacco to minors. In more than 200 compliance checks, underage minors (acting under adult supervision and with their parents' permission) were successful at purchasing tobacco in two out of every three attempts. Massachusetts followed up this effort with law enforcement activity and has now entered into several settlement agreements to ensure compliance by its merchants.

Because of new directives from the federal government, tobacco retailers can expect to see a significant increase in state enforcement of youth access laws in the next few years. In 1992, Congress enacted Section 1926 of the Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Administration Reorganization Act (Public Law 102-321), commonly called the "Synar Amendment," which requires states to enact and systematically enforce laws prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to minors. States that fail to actively enforce these laws will gradually lose federal block grant funding for substance abuse prevention and treatment programs. The law provides that states that do not enforce their "no-sales-to-minors" tobacco laws will lose 10% of their federal grant funds the first year, 20% the second year, 30% the third year and 40% in subsequent years. These grants are substantial (for example, New York's grant for 1994 was $103,643,000), and because they fund crucial substance abuse programs, states are likely to make an all-out effort to retain them. Because of these high stakes, tobacco retailers can expect to see a dramatic increase in enforcement of no- sales-to-minors tobacco laws at the state level.