Date: September 5, 2003
Contact:
Patty McQuillan
Phone: (919) 733-5027 (ext.232)
| For Release: Immediate
Date: September 5, 2003 |
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Contact:
Patty McQuillan
Phone: (919) 733-5027 (ext.232)
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ALE AGENTS ARREST 98 CLERKS IN 20 COUNTIES DURING AUGUST TOBACCO COMPLIANCE CHECKS |
During the month of August, NC Alcohol Law Enforcement agents sent under-aged teens into 570 retail outlets in 20 counties to try to buy cigars, cigarettes, snuff or other tobacco products. Of the shops checked, 98 clerks were charged with illegally selling tobacco products to customers younger than 18.
“The law is clear that selling tobacco to children is illegal,” said ALE Director Mike Robertson, “Hopefully, this campaign will emphasize how important it is for store clerks to check the IDs of young people to be sure they are not selling tobacco or alcohol to underage children.”
The following checks were made:
ALE Agents in Bladen and Duplin counties made 50 checks and arrested two.
ALE Agents in Cumberland and Hoke counties made 64 checks and arrested 14.
ALE Agents in Craven, Greene, Jones, Pitt and Wilson counties made 135 checks and arrested 23.
ALE Agents in Durham and Orange counties checked 69 and arrested 17.
ALE Agents in Alamance, Guilford, Moore and Richmond counties checked 184 and arrested 27.
ALE Agents in Alexander and Iredell counties checked 35 and arrested 12.
ALE Agents in Buncombe, Mitchell and Yancey counties checked 33 and arrested three.
ALE’s Tobacco Education and Compliance Check Program is conducted in partnership with the Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Services and the North Carolina Health and Wellness Trust Fund Commission. It is also a cooperative effort among community agencies, local law enforcement agencies, merchants, parents and teens.
ALE, a division of the N.C. Dept. of Crime Control and Public Safety has 76 agents across North Carolina who enforce alcohol and tobacco laws.
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