August 2, 2000

Two Riverbank teens went beyond the call of duty to smoke out local merchants who might sell tobacco products to youths.

Brother and sister Derek and Sarah Tripp were recruited through Beyer High School's Parents-Teachers-Students Association to take part in a survey to determine percentage of business which might be selling to under-age buyers. The survey conducted by Stanislaus County Department of Health Services was spurred by state-released statistics showing tobacco sales to minors on the rise.

"We did the survey to see if we were following the state trend of increased sales to kids and we found we almost mirrored it," said Heather Gruening Duvall, department coordinator of the department's Tobacco Education Program. "Unfortunately, it seems merchants have become complacent about checking Ids carefully."

That wasn't true for most Riverbank merchants contacted by the teens.

"It was something you can generalize without really knowing, that most little stores don't really care and will sell cigarettes to kids but I found out that wasn't the case in most situations," said Derek, a non-smoking senior. "Most of the clerks were diligent in asking for identification."

The pair were given a several hours of training and a list of 10 Riverbank stores they were to attempt to buy tobacco products from. Of those 10, only one sold them tobacco but it happened twice because of the Tripps' own initiative.

"After one of them made a successful purchase, the other one went back to the same store and they too were able to make a purchase," said Duvall.

The Tripps then decided on their own to hit a merchant not on the list and were successful in making another purchase, said Sarah Tripp.

Health Services personnel are still tabulating results of the survey and the final breakdown will probably not be released for another month, but the initial results are not encouraging, said Duvall. Countywide, the sales rate seems to match that recorded in the 1999 state survey when 16.9 percent of targeted merchants sold to minors. The state-wide percentage represented a 29 percent increase over the previous year when the sales to minors rate was 13.1 percent.

A similar survey conducted in Stanislaus County last year found 12.3 percent of merchants solicited willing to sell to minors, a tremendous drop from the previous survey conducted in 1995 when 54 percent of county merchants sold tobacco to undercover teens.

"Our whole office was kind of disappointed we had this increase over last year because we worked really hard with the stores" said Duvall. "We've provided one-on-one visits and a couple merchant education training seminars."

The sales ratio in Riverbank was better than last year when two businesses out of 10 sold tobacco. The purchase from the extra merchant might not be added to this year's figures because it was not part of the original sample, said Duvall. Comparatively in Oakdale, two merchants out of 18 surveyed this year sold to undercover minors and one out of 17 in 1999.

"The intent was not law enforcement but merely to see what our rates are," said Duvall. "Because they were up, we may look into getting law enforcement involved. We will be following up with all the stores in the survey letting them know the results."

As for the Tripps, both found the experience fun and rewarding and say they did it as a service to the community.

"I got involved so parents would know how easy it is for kids to go out and buy cigarettes," said Sarah Tripp. "I thought it would be a good experience for us to get out there so we know what it's like. We see other kids with cigarettes and now we know why."

"I thought it would be as fun as it would be helpful for the community," said Derek Tripp. "I have friends who smoke and I don't like it personally and wanted to see if I could do something about it by finding out which stores are selling to them. It was a good experience and I think other kids should get involved in it."

Reprinted by permission of The Riverbank News