Ten Northland dairy owners could be fined up to $2000 each if the Ministry of Health decides to prosecute them for selling cigarettes to under-aged teenagers. The shop owners, from Whangarei and Kaipara, were caught during a recent controlled-purchase operation the Northland District Health Board organised. Both volunteers used in the three-dayoperation were 15 years old and advised to give their correct age if dairy owners asked. Board smokefree co-ordinator Bridget Rowse said the names of the dairies could not be released because the ministry had not decided whether to prosecute. Board smokefree officer Wendy Antrobus said results of the operation were disappointing because retailers flouted the Smoke-free Environments Act 1990, which was nearly 20 years old. She said although 32 retailers questioned or refused the sale of cigarettes to underage children, those who who chose to flout the law were "a concern". Mrs Antrobus said regular operations helped reinforce business operators' legal obligations to make sure tobacco wasn't sold to under-age customers. Retailers could assess the age of teenagers by insisting on a form of photo identification from anyone who appeared to be under 25, she said. "No photo identification, no sale. It is that simple." Northland has some of the highest teen-smoking rates in the developed world, with 27.8 per cent of year 10 students in the region smoking daily or regularly, compared to 24 per cent nationally. In February this year, the owner of Rainbow Dairy in Rust Ave, opposite Whangarei Intermediate, was fined $500 and ordered to pay $130 court costs and $100 solicitor fees after pleading guilty in the Whangarei District Court to a charge of selling tobacco to a person aged under 17. Retailers who sold tobacco products to under-age customers could be fined up to $2000, and those with two convictions for selling them to a person under 18 within a two-year period could also be banned from selling the products for up to three months.
