Six states either require that cigarette vending machines be placed in areas inaccessible to minors or ban such machines completely. Adequate enforcement is the critical element in ensuring the effectiveness of these laws. These persons reported the recorded violations of minors' access laws. In most states, local law-enforcement officials are responsible for enforcement of minors' access laws. In response to these findings, the Secretary of Health and Human Services has recommended model legislation for states to control minors' access to tobacco.
Laws ban minors' tobacco purchases, but enforcement is another matter.
State tobacco-use prevention and control plans. A parting shot at tobacco. Office of Evaluation and Inspections. Youth access to cigarettes. Statement of Louis W. Sullivan, M.D., Secretary of Health and Human Services, before the Committee on Finance, U.S. Senate, May 24, 1990.