Retail outlets are failing when it comes to selling tobacco products to minors.
Wednesday, Attorney General Tom Horne released the latest results from statewide inspections.
For fiscal year 2011, nearly 2,000 outlets were inspected for possible violations. 14.6%, 288 locations, failed. In Apache, Coconino, Gila, Graham, Greenlee, La Paz, Navajo and Pinal Counties, the failure rate was 25% or higher. The remaining counties reflected the statewide average.
Attorney General Horne says the results are unacceptable.
"For every 20 minors that walk into a store in Arizona to buy cigarettes, three of them - without fake ID's or lying or even trying to hide their true age - will be able to buy cigarettes," he said.
To fight the problem, Attorney General Horne announced a new TV and radio Public Service Announcement that warns store personnel that they could personally be fined up to $300 for selling to underage buyers.
Since 2002 the Attorney General's Office has partnered with the Arizona Department of Health Services to develop and maintain the CounterStrike program. The program monitors retailer compliance with state laws that prohibit the sale of tobacco products to minors. Over 23,000 retail inspections have been performed since the program's inception.
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