Minors Have Easy Access to Cigarettes, State Study Finds : Smoking: Of about 2,000 stores, more than half were willing to sell tobacco to underage teen-agers.

A statewide survey of nearly 2,000 stores by the Department of Health Services found that more than half were willing to sell cigarettes to underage teen-agers without asking for proof of age, underscoring the need for tough new legislation, the agency’s director said Wednesday.

“This survey confirms that cigarettes and chewing tobacco are readily available to children everywhere, despite an existing law that prohibits the sale of cigarettes and chewing tobacco to minors under 18,” department Director Kim Belshe said.

“Parents, community leaders and lawmakers who think children can’t buy cigarettes because they are underage need to think again. The survey findings are simply unacceptable.”

Minors who volunteered for the survey tried to buy cigarettes in 124 communities in 25 counties throughout the state, including 14 cities in Los Angeles County. Retail outlets included supermarkets, chain drug stores, mom-and-pop grocery stores, gasoline/convenience stores, restaurants and liquor stores.

Of the 1,959 stores visited, 53% agreed to sell cigarettes to the minors without verifying their age. As part of the study, the teen-agers stopped the sales before they were completed. The intent of the survey was research, not to break the law, the department said.

Although California has had a law prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to minors for 104 years, there has been very little enforcement. Fines range from $200 to $1,000. Minors who receive tobacco products are subject to a $50 fine or 25 hours of community service.

Several lawmakers have measures aimed at cracking down on the illegal sale of cigarettes to minors, including Sens. Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica) and Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach) and Assemblywoman Valerie Brown (D-Sonoma), who wants to increase fines on retailers.

The American Lung Assn. said Wednesday that it wants a law banning cigarette vending machines, which are easily accessible to minors. The survey found that at 85% of the cigarette vending machines visited, no attempt was made by a clerk or an adult to stop the teen-agers from purchasing cigarettes.

But Brown said a vending machine ban is not likely to pass. She said her measure already faces strong opposition from the tobacco industry without also trying to ban the machines.

The lung association also called for other remedies, such as state licensing of tobacco retailers to permit administrative penalties; requiring posted warnings stating it is illegal to sell cigarettes to minors; mandating age verification; outlawing free samples of tobacco products, and establishing a toll-free telephone number for reporting merchant violations.

On another front, Belshe said a recently enacted federal law requires states to document a reduction in tobacco sales to minors or risk losing federal drug and alcohol abuse grants, which could cost California $150 million.

There has been no meaningful decline in smoking by teen-agers since 1990, although adult smoking has decreased by 28% in the same period, Belshe said.

Dr. John Robbins of the lung association said cigarette makers are targeting minors. “You’ve got to get more young people to start smoking if you want to sell more cigarettes, so the focus is on youth,” he said. “There is too much easy access to tobacco products by minors.”

Even the teen-agers said they were shocked to find out how easy it was to buy cigarettes. Alma Lopez, 17, of Los Angeles said she went to 14 stores and was turned down only once. “The most difficult question was what kind (of cigarettes) do you want?” Lopez said at a Capitol news conference.