A local tobacco prevention expert says the rate of tobacco sales to young people nearly tripled from 2019 to 2021.
Cath Tease, Coordinator of the Lakeshore Tobacco Prevention Network, tells Seehafer News the Wisconsin Synar rate measures the percentage of Wisconsin retailers who sell the product to underage purchasers, “And impact here that underage was up to age 18. Well, the tobacco 21 rule is now in effect federally. So, the Synar rate went from 5.5 in 2019 to over 14% of attempted sales to someone under the age of 21.”
Even though fewer Wisconsinites are smoking cigarettes than ever before, products like e-cigarettes, cigars, cigarillos and smokeless tobacco still remain in use.
According to Tease, youth are unfairly targeted with flavors, packaging & product placement. Tease explains they need continuity between state and federal law to reduce confusion among retailers. Locally, she says the LTPN is working to educate retailers that the federal law does apply to them. “Currently the tobacco 21 legislation only passed at the federal level, so the FDA is actually responsible for enforcement,” Tease explained. “Well, you can imagine there’s not enough of them to enforce throughout our state. So, without a change in our state statute, the state and local law enforcement really don’t have the authority to enforce sales to 18, 19, or 20-year-olds.”
And yet, she said, federal law stipulates the purchaser has to be at least 21 to buy tobacco products. Tease pointed out statewide, sales to those under the age of 21 are at their highest in almost 2-decades and she added “we know that we can prevent tobacco addiction before it starts by eliminating sales to minors.”
