Poll shows rise in stores selling tobacco to teensBy Lee I-chia / Staff reporterA survey by the Consumers’ Foundation showed that more stores breached regulations banning the sale of tobacco products to teenagers last year, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday. The foundation, which conducted the survey from April to October last year, arranged for its 18-year-old interns to wear senior-high school uniforms and try to buy cigarettes from 660 stores in 22 cities and counties. The stores included supermarkets or hypermarkets, convenience stores, general shops and betel nut stands. Photo: Yang Yuan-ting, Taipei TimesThe poll showed that 37.1 percent of the stores breached the rules last year, up from 32.3 percent in 2019, HPA Tobacco Control Division official Lu Meng-ying (呂孟穎) said. “The Tobacco Hazards Prevention Act (菸害防制法) stipulates that stores are prohibited from selling tobacco products to people under 18 years old, and may be fined NT$10,000 to NT$50,000 for breaking the law,” he said.

Source: Taipei Times January 26, 2021 15:56 UTC