Loretta Fong, SCMP – Updated on Dec 10, 2008
An anti-smoking group has called for the enforcement of tobacco laws to be stepped up after a survey found 73 per cent of outlets sold cigarettes to underage customers.
Restaurants, grocery stores, petrol stations and newspaper stands were identified as the outlets most likely to violate the Smoking (Public Health) Ordinance, according to the survey by the Committee on Youth Smoking Prevention. The ordinance bans the sale of tobacco to anyone under 18.
The organisation sent out 1,300 underage customers to try to buy cigarettes at 1,349 outlets. Some 73 per cent were willing to sell cigarettes without asking the customers’ ages.