For the third straight year, it was more difficult for Rhode Island’s youth to illegally purchase tobacco, according to the Department of Mental Health, Retardation and Hospitals.
Survey results submitted last month show 12.2 percent of Rhode Island vendors licensed to sell tobacco products violated the law against selling tobacco to kids younger than 18. That violation rate is down dramatically from last year’s 21.8 percent rate and well below a federal mandate that requires state violation rates of less than 20 percent by 2002.
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“This is significant improvement over last year’s violation rate,” MHRH Director A. Kathryn Power said in a written statement. “The staff at our Division of Substance Abuse, in collaboration with local police departments, the Attorney General’s office and the Governor’s Office, has cooperated in this effort.”
Rhode Island’s all-time high violation rate is 50 percent, according to MHRH.
The Division of Substance Abuse surveyed the most up-to-date list available of vendors licensed to sell tobacco. A statistician assigns each site a random number and pulls a sample.
The division then sends forms to police officers for the communities chosen, where surveyors, ages 15 and 16, are sent to conduct the surveys. Forms are completed and sent to the statistician for analysis.
Studies have shown that young people who smoke are more likely to have early signs of heart disease, stroke and an increased risk of lung cancer, according to MHRH. The physical performance and endurance of a teen who smokes is also harmed, according to studies.
“MHRH is committed to reducing youth access to tobacco in order to protect the children of this state from the well-documented health risks associated with tobacco use,” Power said.
Sixteen communities had zero percent non-compliance: Bristol, Charlestown, Coventry, East Greenwich, Exeter, Foster, Glocester, Jamestown, Lincoln, Little Compton, Newport, North Smithfield, Portsmouth, Richmond, Smithfield and West Greenwich.
