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Introduction
High tobacco availability among youth increases the risk of smoking initiation.1 Restricting sales to minors is essential, but only effective if properly enforced and accompanied by penalties.2–4 In the Canton of Vaud (1 of the 26 cantons of Switzerland), a ban on tobacco sales to minors (<18 years old) has been in place since 2006. Compliance with the law was previously assessed between 2007 and 2011, revealing a violation rate of 70%–86%.5 6 Later legal amendments in the Canton of Vaud enabled authorities to conduct test purchases and impose penalties, including temporary sales bans ranging from 10 days to 6 months.
Methods
In 2023, a random sample of one-quarter of all shops and vending machines licensed to sell tobacco in the Canton of Vaud was selected (N=393). Trained adolescents aged 14–17, evenly distributed by age and gender, used the mystery shopper technique (pretending to be regular customers) to attempt cigarette purchases under adult supervision. They had to give their true age when asked. Legal warning sign visibility was also assessed. Businesses (points of sale) in violation were notified by the police a few weeks later that further inspections with penalties would follow. Those that violated the law in 2023 were visited again in 2024, using the same methodology. Repeat offenders faced a 1-month suspension of their sales licence.
Results
In 2023, 30% of businesses sold tobacco to minors (table 1). Age was checked verbally and/or by requesting an identity card in 68% of businesses. Legal warning signs were visible in 43% of cases. Some types of shops (eg, restaurants, cafes, bars and hotels) have a higher sales rate (χ²=23.373; df=4; p<0.001) than others (eg, gas stations). Vending machines had a higher sales rate than individuals (χ2=18.225; df=1; p<0.001).
Results from the 2023 and 2024 test purchases of tobacco with minors in the Canton of Vaud
Of the 118 businesses that violated the law in 2023, 98 were still operational and could be tested in 2024. Among these, 26% reoffended by selling to minors. In 2024, there was no statistically significant association between underage sales and type of shops (χ²=1.615; df=3; p=0.656) nor between sales method (staff vs vending machine) (χ²=0.001; df=1; p=0.972). The visibility of mandatory warning signs improved following the official reminder.
Conclusions
Test purchases are a valuable tool to strengthen youth protection and ensure compliance with existing legislation. Official warnings, awareness-raising measures and emphasis on age verification at vending machines may have an impact relatively quickly. These findings support the continuation and expansion of law enforcement initiatives. A potential avenue for future research would be to include control groups to better assess the impact.
Of note, the ban on sales to minors and the legal basis for test purchases has been extended to the whole of Switzerland in October 2024, with the Federal Act on Tobacco Products and Electronic Cigarettes. However, compared with its neighbouring countries, Switzerland continues to lag behind in tobacco control. Additional effective measures could include a ban on vending machines and advertising,7 as well as higher taxation.8
Ethics statements
Patient consent for publication
Ethics approval
This study involves human participants and was approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of the Canton of Vaud (Req-2019-00029). Participants and their parents gave informed consent to participate in the study before taking part.
Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge the Directorate-General for Health of the Canton of Vaud, the Vaud Trade Police and the Vaud Foundation against Alcoholism for their contributions to the project. They thank Jérémy Cros (Unisanté) for his useful comments on the manuscript.
Footnotes
Contributors All authors contributed to study design and direction. Data analysis was performed by LN. VB wrote the initial draft of the manuscript. VB, LN and LL contributed to revisions and finalisation of the manuscript. All authors approved the final version. VB is the guarantor.
Funding The project was funded by the Directorate-General for Health of the Canton of Vaud.
Competing interests No, there are no competing interests.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.