By Mark Scott
Buffalo, NY – The Erie County Health Department is launching one of its periodic crackdowns on the sale of tobacco products to underage youth.
The department will use decoys to make sure merchants are complying with the law. Health officials began enforcing the law in 1994. Back then, nearly 80 percent of the merchants were making underage sales. That number dropped to under five percent last year.
County Health Commissioner Anthony Billittier says the county has a contract with a company that hires the child decoys.
"Our goal is not to trick anybody. We don't send in 16 year olds with full beards. They find (decoys) who look like kids," Billittier said. "We're not trying to fool anyone. We really want to make sure the store clerks are asking for proof."
By limiting access to cigarettes and other tobacco products, Billittier says he hopes to stop young people under 18 from starting to smoke in the first place.
Merchants who violate the law face stiff fines. Repeat offenders could lose their registration to sell tobacco products.