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CDC Releases First-ever Binational Study of the Illegal Cigarette
Sales to Minors in Three Border Cities Located in the U.S. and Mexico—1999
May 21, 1999 / Vol. 48 / No. 19
In 1996, the United States and Mexico established a Binational
Commission and identified prevention of tobacco use, particularly among
young people, as one of the four priority health concerns. The Binational
Commission established an agreement to coordinate efforts that would
significantly improve the health and quality of life across the borders,
including the Border States. The tobacco and health portion of the joint
agreement focuses on preventing tobacco use among adolescents through the
sharing of policy information; research data; and prevention,
communication, and education efforts. In 1997, Mexico took an important
step toward addressing underage smoking by conducting a survey in Mexico
City to assess minors' access to cigarettes. The survey provided evidence
for the Mexican Secretariat of Health to establish recommendations to
decrease the sale of cigarettes to minors. Future studies are being
considered in neighboring cities along the border of Mexico and the United
States.
The Friday, May 21, 1999, issue of the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention's (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR)
contains a study titled, "Illegal Sales of Cigarettes to Minors-–-Ciudad
Juarez, Mexico; El Paso, Texas; and Las Cruces, New Mexico, 1999".
The CDC in collaboration with the Mexican Secretariat of Health, the
Chihuahua State Department of Health, the Ciudad Juarez Department of
Health, the Texas Department of Health, and the New Mexico Department of
Health released a study, which was conducted in January and February 1999,
that found the percentages of retailers who illegally sold cigarettes to
minors was 6.1 percent in Las Cruces, New Mexico; 18.0 percent in El Paso,
Texas; and 98.1 percent in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
Other key findings from the CDC report include:
- Nearly 80 percent of retailers in El Paso and about 86 percent of
retailers in Las Cruces asked the minors in the survey for ID. In
Mexico, the current minors' access law does not require retailers to
ask for ID.
- Retailers who asked minors to show an ID had significantly reduced
illegal sales rates. In El Paso, only 3 percent of retailers sold
cigarettes to minors after asking for ID, while in Las Cruces, only 1
percent of retailers sold cigarettes to the minor after asking for ID.
- In El Paso and Las Cruces retailers were more likely to sell
cigarettes to girls than to boys (26.1 percent versus 8.8 percent, and
17.2 percent vs. 1.4 percent, respectively), while in Ciudad Juarez,
Mexico retailers were likely to sell cigarettes to girls and boys at
similar rates (97.2 percent versus 95.3 percent).
The Mexican Secretariat of Health will use these survey results to
strengthen minors' access laws. Texas Department of Health and New Mexico
Department of Health will use the study results to continue and improve
efforts to reduce the illegal sale of cigarettes to minors.
Illegal Sales of Cigarettes to Minors—Ciudad
Juarez, Mexico; El Paso, Texas; and Las Cruces, New Mexico, 1999 —
MMWR Highlights
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