Retailers' compliance to the law banning cigarette sale to minors.

In order to prevent smoking addiction, a law banning cigarette sales to minors was enacted in 1992. In market economy countries, studies have shown that enforcement of such a law is not effective(1,2). Almost three years after enactment of the law in this country, there is no evidence regarding the extent of law enforcement. If law enforcement is going to be effective, concerns of politicians and authorities must be mobilized. This study aims at testing retailer compliance to the law. Students aged 9-17 years were sent into 773 stores to buy a pack of cigarettes. The stores were located on main streets in 5 major cities. It was found that nearly all (90.6%) of the retailers violated the law. Ten per cent of the stores showed a sticker stating that "cigarette sale to children under 18 years is banned". However, all of them did sell cigarettes to the students. A set of intervention will be tested to find out effective approaches for law enforcement.