BOSTON - Illegal tobacco sales to kids under 18 have increased so much in stores across the state that Massachusetts may lose out on $6 million in federal funding.
And Dedham is among the communities showing the highest rate of illegal tobacco sales, according to state data.
Since state funding was slashed for the state's Tobacco Control Program during the budget crisis early this decade, illegal tobacco sales to minors have soared, state Department of Public Health data show.
Anti-smoking advocates expect the 2006 figures to be even worse, meaning the state could be ineligible for $6 million worth of federal block grants for substance abuse, said Diane Pickles, executive director of Framingham-based Tobacco Free Mass Coalition.
"It's time to restore the trust, reinvest in tobacco prevention and cessation and protect our kids," Pickles said at the State House yesterday.
Local officials said they have a hard time thwarting illegal tobacco sales to minors in light of steep state budget cuts in 2002 and tobacco companies' teen-focused marketing.
"We'd like to stay on top of (tobacco sales to minors), but with the funding it's difficult," said Dedham Health Director Catherine Cardinale, who said the town tries to do compliance checks for underage tobacco sales once a year.
State and local officials have tracked illegal tobacco sales to minors with the help of underage teenagers sent into stores. From mid-2005 to mid-2006, the youths succeeded in buying tobacco roughly half of the time in Dedham, Bellingham and Milford, state data shows.
"That's ridiculously high," said Milford Public Health Director Paul Mazzuchelli.
Before the 2002 budget cuts, Milford conducted regular compliance checks and fined businesses from $100 to $300 for selling tobacco to minors.
"It's something that we have to start again because it's definitely a public health concern," Mazzuchelli said.
The state-funded Blackstone Valley Youth Tobacco Prevention Program in the coming months will send underage kids to try to buy tobacco in Milford stores, he said. Once the Milford board learns about the violations directly from the local group, it will impose fines on violators, something it has not done since before the 2002 budget cuts, he said.
Southborough stopped fining companies for underage tobacco sales after the 2002 cuts but two years later was able to start up again when the town joined a Worcester-area tobacco prevention program, Public Health Director Paul Pisinski said.
