Youth Council set to spark reform

Plans for regulations of tobacco sales and penalties for non-compliance of existing laws are some of the main goals expected to be discussed by the city of La Cañada Flintridge’s Youth Council next week, when the nine-member council meets for its first meeting Wednesday.

This year’s Youth Council is expected to take up where previous council members left off in working with Glendale Adventist Medical Center in drafting a report on illegal tobacco sales to minors, confirmed Andrew Erlichman, city staff liaison for the Youth Council.

The report, based on a sting-like operation in recent months, is expected to be presented to the City Council at an upcoming council meeting. A representative of Glendale Adventist last month updated the City Council on the medical center’s work with the Youth Council.

For more than 100 years, it has been illegal to sell cigarettes and other tobacco products to youths under the age of 18, according to Guadulesa Rivera, community advocate with Glendale Adventist Medical Center. Despite state law, a sting operation conducted last year by the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Department and members of the Youth Council resulted in the sale of tobacco to underage youths, and a citation for the local retailer who violated that law.

In the past year, the Youth Council and Glendale Adventist conducted similar youth purchase surveys where youths, ages 15 to 17, entered randomly selected liquor and grocery stores, delis, gas stations and doughnut shops and began the tobacco sale process. In some cases the youths were asked to show identification and, despite the underage proof, several clerks offered to sell the illegal products, Rivera said.

Of the 17 establishments involved, eight businesses, that’s 47.1%, were willing to sell tobacco to the underage youths. “That’s pretty alarming,” Rivera said, adding it proved the need for regulation and penalties for businesses that don’t obey the law. “People are realizing that you can’t depend on the honor system,” she said.