ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, November 27, 1996 TAG: 9611270069
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
Police can hire children to buy cigarettes in stings aimed at catching stores illegally selling tobacco to minors, Attorney General Jim Gilmore said in an opinion released Tuesday.
The opinion was requested by Del. William Mims, R-Loudoun County, who distributed copies to fellow members of a legislative subcommittee examining ways to curb underage tobacco use in Virginia.
Mims said some law enforcement officials have questioned whether the state law prohibiting the sale of tobacco to anyone under 18 precluded them from using children to make undercover buys.
Gilmore wrote, however, that the law provides an exception for a minor delivering tobacco as part of his employment. That provision clearly covers the use of children in law-enforcement stings, he wrote.
Del. James Almand, D-Arlington and chairman of the subcommittee, said he hoped Gilmore's ruling would encourage police to hire children for undercover operations.
``Clearly, that's the most effective way of enforcing the law,'' he said.
But law enforcement officials said beefed-up enforcement is unlikely.
``We are placing our priority and directing our resources where the real problems are, which is serious crime,'' said John Jones, executive director of the Virginia Sheriffs Association. ``That's not to say we are not concerned about underage smoking. It's just not something that has been on the front burner.''
Dana Schrad of the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police agreed.
``Even if they effect a lot of arrests, how many commonwealth's attorneys are going to put this on their plate? It's an issue of balancing the priorities of law enforcement,'' she said.
Buyers and sellers who violate the law can be fined $50 for a first offense.
State health officials have conducted ``compliance testing'' that shows it is relatively easy for teens to buy tobacco products in Virginia. Last spring, 37 percent of 1,054 merchants were willing to sell tobacco to teens sent into their stores by state officials. The state must get noncompliance down to 20 percent by the year 2000 or risk losing federal health funds.
The merchants were not prosecuted because no money actually changed hands. When they handed the tobacco over to the teens, instead of receiving cash, they got a card warning them they were about to break the law.
Judy Castleman of the American Lung Association and the American Heart Association told the subcommittee that education, while important, can accomplish only so much.
``The people I represent continue to be concerned about the lack of enforcement,'' she said.
The subcommittee also heard from a lobbyist for the vending machine industry who urged legislators not to further regulate sales of cigarettes from machines.
Gary DeBruhl said the number of cigarette vending machines in Virginia has plunged from about 4,000 in 1994 to about 1,000. No new cigarette vending machines have been manufactured since 1991, he said.
A law that took effect last July 1 requires that the machines be placed at least 10 feet inside the door of any building. Or, the machines can be modified to operate on tokens purchased from a cashier. The aim is to make cigarettes less accessible to children.
``This is another government intrusion into the way we do our business practices,'' DeBruhl said.
Other proposals to more strictly regulate vending machine sales, or ban them altogether, have failed in the General Assembly. Almand said legislators probably will examine the effectiveness of the new law before considering tougher ones.
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