GENEVA, Switzerland, June 2 (UPI) -- A Swiss researcher finds that laws criminalizing the sale of tobacco to minors have little or no effect of the use of tobacco by teens.
Jean-François Etter of the University of Geneva reviewed all published studies on the subject. Most of the studies were conducted in the United States, where since 1992 the Synar Amendment has required all states to enact and enforce laws prohibiting the sale for tobacco to persons under the age of 18.
States do not enforce the laws, and the federal government does not require states to penalize lawbreakers, according to the review to be published in the July issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Even when states laws are enforced, Etter found "no effect of sales prohibitions on tobacco use by minors, at any level of compliance by retailer."
Minors often find "social" sources such as family and friends to get tobacco products and circumvent the laws, the review found.
