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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1994-7-27, Page 3TN THE NEWS Despite new laws, are cigarettes still available to minors? A 16 -year old was able to buy cigarettes in nine out of 10 times in ariinformal check of local stores Times -Advocate, July 27, 1994 Page 3 By Erin Lobb T -A staff EXETER - Selling cigarettes to minors may be a crime according to provincial law, but to the dozens of store owners and employees in the South Huron area, it is simply all in a days work. "I ask for identification when I see kids trying to buy cigarettes, but if it's someone driving a car, then I usually assume they are old enough," said one local variety store employee. Though the legal age to purchase cigarettes is 18, many store owners say that if the person looks old enough they won't question them. The Times -Advocate conducted an informal test of 10 local variety stores Friday afternoon in which a 16 -year-old, with no identification attempted to purchase cigarettes. Only one store clerk refused the sale. When asked why they did not Money turned in to OPP EXETER - If you've lost some money in the past week, you might be in luck at the Exeter OPP. Police say an amount of money was found by a person in the Exeter detachment's area and turned in to the OPP. The owner can identify and claim the money by specifying where it was lost, the amount and denomination of the bills. The police also investigated a claim of mischief at Gars Bar on Main Street in Exeter on Saturday. A 1979 Black Chevrolet pickup truck was scratched, possibly with a screwdriver, say police. Four local accidents investigated by police EXETER - The OPP investigated four accidents on local roads this past week. On Saturday, vehicles driven by William Benoit of Exeter and Rich- ard Skinner of Zurich collided at the intersection of Main and Victoria Streets in Exeter. There were no in- juries and only light to moderate damage. On Thursday, a vehicle driven by Edward Thornley of Bayfield went out of control and entered the ditch on Highway 4 near Hay Township road 5-6. There was light damaged, but no injuries reported. Last Wednesday, a pickup truck driven by Charles Brindley of RR2 Holyrood struck three parked vehi- cles on Main Street in Exeter. Last Monday, a vehicle driven by Angela Denomme of Zurich struck a cattle beast on Concession 12-13 of Hay Township. The vehicle ran off into the ditch. The driver and two passengers were taken to South Huron Hospital. Police say the ve- hicle was also severely damaged. check identification the most com- mon reply amongst sales clerks was, "1 thought she was old enough". A similar study was done in 1992 by the Huron County Health Unit. TI -.?y found that over half of re- tailers county wide would sell to- bacco products to minors. "I don't understand why they will According to the Tobacco Act customers must be at least 18 years of age to purchase cigarettes. Leslie Jeffery, who participated in a recent test to observe sales to minors, was the only store owner to refuse the 16 -year-old customer . give car keys to a 16 -year-old who could drink and drive and kill peo- ple in a matter of hours, yet the same person can't smoke until he's 18 even though it might take 60 years to die," said one store owner. This issue has recently come to Tight after a dispute between county health board officials and Huron County Medical Officer, Maarten Bokhout. It is over a $25,000 grant offered to Huron County to hire an individual to enforce new smoking legislation, which is expected to be- come law in the fall of 1994, ac- cording to the Huron County Health Unit. The key areas for change in the Tobacco Control Act are the fol- lowing: 'Prohibit smoking in schools or on school grounds •Raise the legal age of purchase for tobacco to 19 years •Prohibit the sale of tobacco from vending machines •Prohibit smoking in certain plac- es such as, financial institutions, self -serve Laundromats, hair- dressing and barber shops "Education is 80 or 90 percent of the job," said Bokhout, who de- scribed the role of the enforcement position as one that is not aimed at restricting individuals from smok- ing. Instead it is focusing on pro- hibiting stores, bars, and coin laun- dries (for example) from providing a place to smoke. The individual would also spend time ensuring that stores do not sell tobacco products to minors, that pharmacies aren't selling tobacco products and that vending machines aren't in public places. The health board, which is com- posed of county councillors, found the legislation "detestable" and vot- ed to send the money back. Who will monitor tobacco sales to minors? "It's tough to control because we need witnesses to come forward or we have to catch them in the act. Right now we have a manpower shortage as it is, so we probably Grants available for erosion control EXETER . - The Erosion Control Assistance Pro- gram (ECAP) is a grant program available through the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority. This assistance is being offered to anyone owning lands (within the watershed) showing minor erosion prob- lems which are causing water quality degradation. The financial assistance is subject to conditions found on the application form. The Conservation Authority provides grants for ap- proved erosion control projects when no other assis- tance programs are available. Grants apply to pro- jects which have total costs of $16,500 or legs. The landowners are required to pay for the project and will be reimbursed 50 percent of the least cost option for the project. This means that the grant will be based on the least expensive, yet adequate method of reducing the soil erosion. Also, for the first year fol- lowing the project completion, the ABCA will pro- vide a grant for maintenance work at the same rate as the project. However, need for this service is usually quite minimal. Up until the past couple of years, grants have not been available due to lack of funds. In spite of this, Robert Traut, the advisor for this program, provided landowners with technical assistance - surveying, de- signing, supervising construction, and inspecting the final product - free of charge. Now that there are grants available, Traut will still provide technical as- sistance to landowners who qualify for the grant as- sistance. An interesting project completed by the ECAP program can be seen in Biddulph Township. A cul- vert pipe underneath a road, empties its contents into a catch basin on the west side of the road. However, the catch basin often couldn't take the water fast enough. Water ran across the field and into a ditch creating several erosion problems. The landowner applied to the ABCA. for erosion control assistance. A design was prepared for the project and it was ap- proved by Traut. Then a contractor constructed rock chutes with rocks that were already at the site. A grassed waterway was constructed where the water ran across the fields. One rock chute directs the ex- cess water onto this grassed waterway. Because the area is now covered in grass, erosion has been great- ly reduced. As well, a second chute was constructed at the end of the grassed waterway directing water into the ditch. By making these changes, the loss of topsoil due to erosion has been virtually eliminated. Anyone with an erosion problem on their land can contact Robert Traut at the ABCA's administration office at 235-2610. GB hires a dog catcher Tags will be issued and people will have to keep their dogs off the beach GRAND BEND - Dog owners beware. Beginning immediately, Grand Bend has a dog catcher which means licenses will be required. It also hopefully means a solution to the dog feces on the beach. Monday night, administrator Paul Turnbull announced Carl Elson of Parkhill has been hired as the dog catcher and he will be going door- to-door selling the licenses. "We've had numerous complaints about dogs," said Turnbull. "We are taking an aggressive approach to selling dog tags." License fee will be $20, $25 for a second dog and $30 for an un - spayed or neutered dog. Turnbull said Elson's fee will be based on a commission basis. When a dog is found not to have a tag it will be taken to the shelter Ti' after 12 hours but all effort will be made to find the owner. "He's going to patrol the beach. He'll approach anyone, he's making his presence known. He'll call a by- law enforcement officer," said Turnbull. There was also some question about cats and while Turnbull said Elson will not be licensing cats, any animals found to be "at large" will be picked up. NOTICE The board which manages St. James Cemetery, Clandeboye, Pt. Lot 1, Conc. NLR, Township of Biddulph, County of Middlesex, has purchased land adjacent to its north boundary for the purpose of expanding the Cemetery. St. James Cemetery Board then made an application to the Township of Biddulph to have this re -zoned institutional for cemetery use. In compliance with the Province of Ontario Cemeteries Act as Proclaimed April 1, 1992, the plans (or layout) are available to the public for viewing at St. James Cemetery Chapel or any inquiries can be directed to the Secretary -Treasurer of St.. James Cemetery Board, T.J. Tomes at 228-6825 July 20,1994. wouldn't be able to designate peo- ple to that problem," says Con- stable George Finch, of the Exeter OPP. "If they see police coming they just stop selling the cigarettes to the minors any ways." According to the various clerks at local variety stores, the fines for selling cigarettes to minors range anywhere from $250 to $100,000. In fact provincial law says the fine is between $50 and $500, de- pending on the severity of the crime. - "I still ask everyone who comes into the store, even if they are 22, 23, or 24. Because this is a tourist area I don't know all the people that come in," said Leslie Jeffery, own- er of St Joesph's Country Store. Jeffery was the only clerk tested who turned down the minor at- tempting to purchase cigarettes Fri- day. "Cigarette smoking amongst teenage girls has risen dramatically, from three to 10 percent oI the pop- ulation," says Bokhout. "Also, lung cancer has passed breast can- cer as the leading cause of death among women." Bokhout says common sense and medical evidence require the health unit to support the, legislation. 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