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Illegal Sales of Cigarettes to Minors—Ciudad Juarez, Mexico; El
Paso, Texas; and Las Cruces, New Mexico, 1999
MMWR Highlights
May 21, 1999 / Vol. 48 / No. 19
- 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. The marked
difference in sales rates between Ciudad Juarez and the two U.S.
border cities, El Paso and Las Cruces, is possibly due to the
enforcement of minors' access laws and retailer education during the
past several years in the United States.
- 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, and rarely or never was ID requested.
- 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 minors after asking for ID.
- In El Paso and Las Cruces retailers were much more likely to sell
cigarettes to girls than to boys (26.1 percent versus 8.8 percent, and
17.2 percent versus 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).
- Studies show that enforcement of minors' access laws coupled with
retailer education programs can have a significant impact in reducing
cigarette sales to minors.
- The Synar Amendment is a Federal Law enacted in July 1992. It
requires states to enact and enforce laws restricting the sale and
distribution of tobacco products to young people under the age of 18.
States are required to reduce the illegal sales rates to minors to no
more than 20 percent.
- The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rules are designed to reduce
the illegal sales of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products to
minors. The FDA rules require age verification by photo ID for anyone
under the age of 27 purchasing cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, and
prohibit sales of cigarette and smokeless tobacco products to anyone
under the age of 18.
- The Mexican Secretariat of Health has two proposals pending
ratification: one would strengthen the existing minors' access law by
requiring an ID, by eliminating sale of loose cigarettes and packs
with less than 14 cigarettes, and by prohibiting vending machines in
locations accessible to minors. Another proposal would increase
advertising controls to reduce marketing to youth.
Illegal Sales of Cigarettes to Minors—Ciudad
Juarez, Mexico; El Paso, Texas; and Las Cruces, New Mexico, 1999
48(19):394-398, May 21, 1999
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