Illegal tobacco sales increase in Dane County

Posted:

By Dani Maxwell - email

MADISON (WKOW) -- More kids are getting their hand on tobacco products from retailers in Dane County.

Public Health Madison and Dane County issued a report on tobacco sales to underage youth Wednesday. It shows that in 2012, retail outlets in the City of Madison sold tobacco products to underage kids at a rate of 15.4%. In 2011, the rate was 16.9%.

In Dane County, the rate increased. PHMDC says retail outlets in the county sold tobacco products to underage youth at a rate of 7.7% in 2011 and that rate went up to 10.4% in 2012.

PHMDC says before 2011, Madison and the county saw four years of steady declines of illegal sales of tobacco products.

Compliance checks are carried out by trained teams of young people between 16 and 17 years old under the supervision of PHMDC staff. Team members tried to buy tobacco produced at 232 places in Madison and Dane County.

PHMDC says if a clerk refused to sell tobacco products to a young person, they would get a thank you card. If a young person was able to buy a product, a PHMDC staff member would inform the clerk a citation would be issued to that clerk and the business owner within a week.

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