Nine New Canaan businesses refused to sell tobacco or electronic cigarettes to a minor sent into them Tuesday by local and state enforcement agencies, officials said.
Stewarts Spirits and Mackenzie’s were among the business that complied with the state laws forbidding the sale of tobacco or e-cigarettes to minors, according to a press release issued following a Tobacco Prevention and Enforcement Program effort run jointly by the New Canaan Police Department and Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.
“A supervised minor deployed by the TPEP inspection team entered retail establishments around town to conduct tobacco and electronic cigarette inspections to ensure compliance with state law,” according to the release.
Businesses that break the law are subject to an infraction summons and $200 fine for the first offense, it said.
Other businesses found to be in compliance were the Mobil Marts on South Avenue and both sides of the Merritt Parkway by Exit 37, Walgreens, Gulf station downtown, Acme and A1 Cellars.
E-cigarettes and their use, “vaping,” rank among the major concerns that officials have for New Canaan’s middle (and even elementary) school kids.
Saxe Middle School Resource Officer Jeff Deak told the Board of Education in November that the use of vaporizers is increasingly prevalent.