Tobacco Alcohol and Youth - Availability Of Alcohol And Tobaccoto Minors

The sale of alcohol to persons under the age of twenty-one and tobacco to persons under the age of eighteen is illegal. However, results of surveys cited in this chapter show that an overwhelming majority of young people reported that both were readily available to them.

According to the 2003-2004 PRIDE survey, 34.2% of junior high students and 68.9% of high school students found it fairly easy or very easy to get cigarettes. (See Table 6.10.) Cigars were not as easy for students to obtain, with 21.3% of junior high students and 55.8% of high school students finding it fairly easy to very easy to get them.

Among alcoholic beverages, beer was most available, with 34.5% of junior high students and 66.8% of high school students saying that it was fairly or very easy to obtain. One out of four (25.5%) junior high students found liquor fairly or very easy to get, as did a considerable proportion of high school students (63.4%). These levels are lower than in previous years of the survey, however, suggesting that minors are having more difficulty obtaining alcohol in more recent years.

Results from the 2003 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance revealed that 18.9% of high school-age smokers were able to purchase cigarettes at a store or gas station, suggesting that they were not asked to show proof of age. (See Table 6.11.) Females were less likely to have purchased cigarettes at a store or gas station (13.8% versus 24.2% of males).

According to various CDC studies, illegal cigarette vending machine sales to minors ranged from 82 to 100% in 1989 and 1992. Before legislation was passed in 1992 and 1996 to curb tobacco sales to minors, vending machines were a major source of sales to minors. The CDC reports that more than two-thirds of states restrict cigarette vending machines, but many TABLE 6.10
Students' opinions on how easy it is to get tobacco and alcohol, 2003-04
SOURCE: "Table 7.175. How Easy Is It to Get Cigarettes?," "Table 7.177. How Easy Is It to Get Cigars?," "Table 7.178. How Easy Is It to Get Beer?," and "Table 7.180. How Easy Is It to Get Liquor?," in PRIDE Questionnaire Report for Grades 6 thru 12: 2003-04 PRIDE National Summary/Grades 6 thru 12 http://www.pridesurveys.com (accessed March 7, 2005)

Grade level	Number of valid	Number of miss	Cannot get	Very diffcult	Fairly diffcult	Fairly easy	Very easy
How easy is it to get cigarettes?
6th	13,886	1,290	70.1	4.5	4.6	7.8	12.9
7th	16,888	1,382	57.1	4.7	6.5	13.3	18.4
8th	22,125	1,809	45.1	3.9	6.6	17.4	27.1
9th	15,016	1,219	33.9	2.7	5.4	20.4	37.6
10th	15,427	1,106	26.2	1.9	4.9	21.8	45.2
11th	13,997	1,137	20.4	1.3	3.6	20.3	54.4
12th	8,444	676	15.0	1.3	2.0	15.1	66.6
Junior High	52,899	4,481	55.5	4.3	6.0	13.6	20.6
Senior High	52,884	4,138	25.1	1.9	4.2	20.0	48.9
Total	105,783	8,619	40.3	3.1	5.1	16.8	34.7
How easy is it to get cigars?
6th	13,834	1,342	78.5	4.6	3.9	5.3	7.7
7th	16,821	1,449	68.4	5.7	6.7	8.7	10.6
8th	21,942	1,992	58.3	5.4	8.3	11.9	16.2
9th	14,911	1,324	44.0	4.7	8.8	17.2	25.3
10th	15,304	1,229	34.3	3.7	9.3	19.8	33.0
11th	13,891	1,243	27.1	2.7	7.1	19.9	43.2
12th	8,352	768	20.6	1.7	5.1	16.4	56.3
Junior High	52,597	4,783	66.8	5.3	6.6	9.1	12.2
Senior High	52,458	4,564	33.0	3.4	7.9	18.6	37.2
Total	105,055	9,347	49.9	4.3	7.2	13.8	24.7
How easy is it to get beer?
6th	13,823	1,353	68.5	5.3	4.8	8.1	13.4
7th	16,865	1,405	55.4	5.5	7.4	12.7	19.0
8th	22,051	1,883	42.3	4.6	8.1	17.4	27.6
9th	14,983	1,252	31.1	3.7	7.8	21.4	35.9
10th	15,389	1,144	23.2	3.0	7.2	23.3	43.4
11th	13,950	1,184	18.9	2.2	7.0	24.6	47.4
12th	8,422	698	16.4	1.8	6.5	25.2	50.1
Junior High	52,739	4,641	53.4	5.0	7.0	13.4	21.1
Senior High	52,744	4,278	23.2	2.8	7.2	23.4	43.4
Total	105,483	8,919	38.3	3.9	7.1	18.4	32.3
How easy is it to get liquor?
6th	13,818	1,358	77.0	4.9	3.9	5.3	8.9
7th	16,808	1,462	64.5	5.9	6.5	9.3	13.7
8th	21,959	1,975	50.4	5.4	8.2	13.8	22.1
9th	14,937	1,298	35.6	4.5	8.5	19.3	32.1
10th	15,347	1,186	25.5	4.0	8.7	22.4	39.3
11th	13,935	1,199	20.1	3.0	8.5	24.2	44.3
12th	8,418	702	17.0	2.9	8.3	25.3	46.6
Junior High	52,585	4,795	61.9	5.5	6.5	10.1	15.9
Senior High	52,637	4,385	25.6	3.7	8.5	22.4	39.7
Total	105,222	9,180	43.7	4.6	7.5	16.3	27.9

of these restrictions are weak. Only Vermont and Idaho have total bans on vending machines. However, many jurisdictions have restricted vending machine locations to bars and clubs where minors are not permitted to enter.