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Date: 6/3/2008 Federal State Program Continues to Report a Dramatic Nationwide Drop in Tobacco Sales to Minors During the Past 11 YearsIllegal sales of tobacco products to underage youth have reached an all-time low under the Synar Amendment program, a federal-state partnership program aimed at ending illegal tobacco sales to minors, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration announced today. The national average of illegal tobacco sales to minors has dropped since the program’s inception from 40.1 percent in fiscal year 1997 to 10.5 percent in fiscal year 2007, the report said. Nearly all states and the District of Columbia have achieved a major Synar program goal – having 20 percent or less of their state’s tobacco product retailers engaging in illegal sales of tobacco to minors. These levels stand in sharp contrast with the situation 11 years ago at the Synar program’s inception, when only four states met this goal. More than half of the states were able to drive down levels of illegal retail sales of tobacco to minors to 10 percent or less in fiscal year 2007. Mississippi reported the nation’s lowest level of illegal sales of tobacco products to minors (3.2 percent), while Massachusetts reported the highest (22.7 percent). “Although underage use of tobacco remains a serious public health problem, the Synar program’s continued success confirms that decreasing illegal tobacco sales to minors is an important component of state tobacco control efforts,” said Terry Cline, Ph.D., SAMHSA administrator. “By building upon this successful partnership among public health and law enforcement authorities at the federal, state and local level, we can further diminish these illegal sales and help protect young people from the addictive and damaging effects of tobacco use.” The SAMHSA report notes that the successful implementation of the Synar Amendment program (named for the late U.S. Rep. Mike Synar of Oklahoma) relied on vigorous enforcement, supportive public policies and development of social climates discouraging youth tobacco use. Under the regulations implementing the Synar Amendment, states and jurisdictions must report annually to SAMHSA on their retailer violation rates, which represent the percentage of inspected retail outlets that sold tobacco products to a customer under the age of 18. States and jurisdictions measure their progress through random, unannounced inspections of tobacco retailers, and SAMHSA provides technical assistance to help states comply.
Retailer Violation Rates for the 50 States and the
FISCAL YEAR 2007
SAMHSA is a public health agency within the Department of Health and Human Services. The agency is responsible for improving the accountability, capacity and effectiveness of the nation's substance abuse prevention, addictions treatment, and mental health services delivery system. |
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Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration • 1 Choke Cherry Road • Rockville, MD 20857
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