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Tobacco Sales Compliance Improves Overall, With One Exception

Centers for Disease Control

Oregon retailers have done better this year in refusing to sell tobacco to minors. But state inspections found one product with a very high rate of illegal sales.

The state uses underage buyers as decoys to see if stores peddling tobacco will sell it to minors without checking IDs. In just over 1,000 inspections, about 16 percent of retailers failed the test…that’s down slightly from the year before.

But the failure rate for so-called “little cigars” more than doubled. These are smaller than standard cigars and often sell for under a dollar. Their price, and the fact that they come in sweet flavors, makes them appealing to youth. The Oregon Health Authority found that just over a quarter of their inspections resulted in a sale to an underage decoy buyer.

As of last year, tobacco sales are only legal to people age 21 and over in Oregon.

Credit Oregon Health Authority

Chris Lehman has been reporting on Oregon issues since 2006. He joined the KLCC news department in December 2018 and became News Director in March 2023. Chris was born and raised in Pennsylvania, and graduated from Temple University with a degree in journalism. His public broadcasting career includes stops in Louisiana and Illinois. Chris has filed for national programs including “Morning Edition” and “All Things Considered.”
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