Teenagers Have Little Trouble Buying Cigarettes, Survey Finds

Though every state bans the sale of tobacco products to minors, many of those laws aren't working, a government study shows.

Children nationwide found it easier to buy cigarettes in 1993 than in 1989, according to the study by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The research also found that most minors who smoke buy their own cigarettes and that they make most of those purchases at small stores, such as convenience stores.

Federal researchers based their analysis on data from the 1989 and 1993 Teenage Attitudes and Practices surveys, which involved telephone and personal interviews conducted with teenagers drawn from a representative sample of U.S. households. Their report appeared in the CDC's Feb. 16 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report .