Smoke sting exposes retailer

A Marlborough retailer has sold cigarettes to a minor on multiple occasions, says Nelson Marlborough Health.

The retailer, which could not be identified, sold cigarettes to a 16-year-old volunteer as part of a routine ‘controlled purchase’ conducted by Nelson Marlborough Health last Wednesday.

Public Health Services operations manager Sonya Briggs said the other 18 retailers checked all complied with regulations, but one store did not ask for ID.

‘‘It’s not the first time they have sold to a minor,’’ Briggs said.

‘‘It’s disappointing that it’s taking time for processes to be put in place to protect the health of younger people.’’

By law, retailers of cigarettes needed to ask for ID when a customer looks younger than 25.

‘‘The majority of retailers do a really good job and take their responsibilities seriously,’’ Briggs said.

‘‘Quite often, we do controlled purchase operations and not one retailer sells to minors . . . and when you do get them, it’s one retailer that just isn’t following process and asking for that ID.’’

The health board conducted controlled purchases on a regular basis to ensure retailers complied with the Smoke-free Environment Act 1990.

Retailers might be identified as ‘highrisk’ if they were a repeat offender and checked more frequently.

The offending retailer would now go through enforcement with the Ministry of Health, face a $500 fine and be checked on a regular basis, Briggs said.

Night ‘n Day owner John Gargiulo said a minor tried to a buy cigarettes ‘‘probably once a week’’ at his Marlborough convenience store, but it was much less frequent than previous years.

‘‘They think we’re an easy target but it doesn’t work that way,’’ Gargiulo said.

‘‘They give up on the supermarkets because they’re pretty tough and now they think the old corner dairy is starting to follow suit a bit. We haven’t had a problem for years simply because of what we’ve got in place.’’

Tip top store and takeaway owner Sukhjinder Singh said they sometimes had minors attempting to buy cigarettes, but it was not common.

‘‘People know that we don’t sell cigarettes to minors, that’s why they don’t come to us,’’ Singh said.