Tobacco Documents Online

Vending Facts As part of his plan to curb tobacco sales to minors, Health and Human Services Secretary Louis Sullivan has asked states to ban cigarette vending machines. A look at the data will demonstrate that Dr. Sullivan may have come up with a solution in search of a problem. o There are 375,000 cigarette vending machines in the United States.1 o Eight out of ten cigarette vending machines are in places where teenagers cannot get at them -- places like bars, factories, military bases and other locations not easily accessible to minors.2 o Cigarette sales from vending machines -- while a significant portion of vending machine revenues -- are a relatively small part of the total cigarette sales. In 1989, only 3.5 percent of all cigarettes were sold through vending machines.3 o cigarette vending machine sales to smokers under 18 is ' National Automatic Merchandising Association. 2 Mark Dlugoss, editor of Automatic MerchandiserL a monthly trade magazine, published in Cleveland. ' Automatic Merchandiser

neglible fraction -- only about three-tenths of one percent -- of total cigarette sales.4 o Smokers under 18 years of age get their cigarettes from a variety of sources: 28 percent of teenage smokers do not buy them but get them from friends and family.5 Secretary Sullivan says, "You can't buy beer from a vending machine. Why should you be able to purchase cigarettes there?" The reason is obvious. Most vending machines are in bars and restaurants where alcohol is already available, or in offices where alcohol is inappropriate, or in factories where drinking could be dangerous. It is clear that a vending machine ban would unnecessarily restrict access of adults to cigarettes and would be damaging to the vending industry without significantly affecting access of youth. N O N GJ td 1A U1 ' The figure is derived from NAMA and HHS data. 0 W ' Response Research, Inc. study conducted for NAMA in 1989. ~ I