CHILD POLICE TO TRAP CIGARETTE SELLERS

THE State Government will employ children to help catch retailers selling
cigarettes to under-age smokers.

The undercover operation was revealed yesterday by the Human Services
Minister, Mr Brown, who said children would be trained and paid to enter
shops and try to buy cigarettes.

Human Services Department staff would supervise them.

Retailers caught selling cigarettes to anyone under 18 would be cautioned,
followed by a $5000 fine for a second offence.

Later offences could attract loss of retail tobacco licences.

"We'll be training young people, putting them under the supervision of
adults and then positively testing whether or not retailers are selling (to
children)," Mr Brown said.

"They need to understand we are now serious in SA."

Mr Brown said it was too soon to say how old the children would be, how they
would be recruited, how much they would be paid and what training they would
receive.

The covert attack on under-age smoking has the support of retail
associations and health groups, including the National Heart Foundation and
the Anti-Cancer Foundation.

But the Opposition's spokeswoman on health, Ms Lea Stevens, described the
use of children as "entrapment" and "inappropriate".

"It's setting someone up to break the law," she said.

"To even consider putting children in that position, I think that is
completely wrong.

"I am very surprised to hear the minister, who is in charge of child
protection, saying such a thing."

Ms Stevens also questioned whether the Government would keep last year's
commitment to spend $3.9 million a year on anti-tobacco strategies.

Meanwhile, The Advertiser yesterday sent a 17-year-old girl into a range of
retail outlets to purchase cigarettes.

Nine out of ten retailers sold the girl cigarettes without asking her for
identification. Included were specialist cigarette outlets, a service
station, lunch bar, variety stores, a chicken shop and delis.

Speaking after the sales, most staff were opposed to the Government plan,
describing it as "entrapment", "underhand", and "a set up".

They said it was very difficult to guess the age of customers, particularly
girls, who with makeup and professional clothes could look much older.

One Rundle Mall sales assistant said she had been abused by people after
seeking identification.

"I've been abused and had punches thrown at me," she said. "If I had a
dollar for every time I've been called an inappropriate name I would be
rich."

Another city retailer said a fine was appropriate if it were obvious a
person was under-age, but only a warning should apply in borderline cases.

"The only way you can tell for sure is if they are in school uniform," she
said.

One retailer said he regularly asked people for identification who turned
out to be over 20, but when business was busy it was easy to make a mistake.

"It is very hard because those kids out there know we're not allowed to sell
to them but they still come in and try – particularly when we are busy," he
said.