B.C. TO GET TOUGHER WITH SMOKE-SELLING STORES

VANCOUVER - September 1997 - Canadian Press reports that the B.C. government intends to get "even tougher" with stores that sell cigarettes to minors, Health Minister Joy MacPhail has said. The B.C. and federal governments have reached a new three-year deal that doubles spending on tobacco law enforcement to $1.2 million of taxpayer dollars. The new money will be used to hire extra staff, expected to be on the job by the end of the year, to make sure stores aren't selling smokes to minors, said MacPhail. In a dazzling confirmation of her well-known bully tactics, she also wants stores to be required to post a sign if they've been found to have sold cigarettes to minors. It would read, "We cannot sell tobacco products because we were convicted of tobacco sale offences." In the past year there have been about 150 convictions and 23 suspensions from three to six months, she said. Consistent with the political doctrine of contempt for business of the NDP, the persecution continues. But minors, increasingly attracted to tobacco as deliciously forbidden fruit, are smarter: many of them now grow their own tobacco!

Shove this one, Joy(less)!