For the first time in nearly 10 years, the illegal sales rate of tobacco products to minors has not only risen, it has more than doubled in Amador County. Over the previous decade,youth purchase survey conducted earlier this month, where the illegal sales rate rose to 11% in a sampling of 35 stores within AmadorCounty. “This statistic more than doubled from the 2007 Youth Purchase Survey rate of 5%,” stated Angel LeSage, Amador County Public Health Director. “This is certainly concerning. We would hope that our local retailers will make a concerted effort to remind their employees to not only ask for a valid ID, but to also check the date of birth to determine if the customer is under 18.”“As both a physician and a father, I find the statistics on children who smoke frightening – each day more than 4,000 kids in the United States try their first cigarette; and each day another 1,000 other kids under 18 become new regular, daily smokers,” said Dr. Bob Hartmann, Amador County Health Officer. “That’s 464,000 new underage smokers in  this country each year.” Most adult smokers started when they were preteens or teenagers; smoking habits in youth seem to determine lifetime cigarette consumption. the illegal sales rate to underage youth had consistently declined. This was encouraging until the latest

50% of smokers begin their tobacco use by age 14 and 25% begin their smoking addiction by age 12. “This should not only be a wake up call for the retail stores and their employees, but also for the parents in our community,” suggested Larry Fossen, UCCE Youth Development Program Director and Tobacco Reduction of Amador County Community Coalition member. Our local youth were recently surveyed for the Healthy Futures Project: 18% of our 11th grade respondents said that they had smoked in the last 30 days. 9% of the 7th graders and 12% of the 9th graders admitted to smoking cigarettes. According to Tobacco Reduction of Amador County, or TRAC, tobacco companies spend more than $13.3 billion each year to promote their products. TRAC says the key to curbing youth smoking is providing education and raising awareness in our county. This includes an open door policy for retailers to request refresher training, compliance signage or to answer questions. For more information on underage tobacco sales or cessation resources, contact the TRAC office at 223-6638.