Retailers perfect in youth tobacco sales sting

The P.E.I. government's most recent attempt to catch retailers out selling tobacco to minors failed to catch a single store willing to sell cigarettes to a youth.

The province recruited a youth during the months of July and August to go into 150 stores across the Island to try to buy tobacco as part of a regular enforcement regime. The operation usually nets about a dozen violations, but this summer not a single store was caught.

"We've made a number of steps, not only the educational material we provide, but we have strengthened our enforcement policy just to ensure that retailers are taking the legislation seriously," said senior environmental health officer Ryan Neale.

"That does seem to have a deterrent-type of effect."

For the past six years the Health department has published the names of stores caught selling tobacco to minors. The change came after CBC News won a decision to publish the names under the Freedom of Information Act.

Neale said publishing the names of retailers on the Health Department's website is a further deterrent to those who would sell tobacco to kids.