FDA warns two Cape Girardeau businesses about cigarette sales to minors

Of the more than 1,200 warning letters the Federal Drug Administration sent to retailers nationwide regarding the sale of tobacco to minors, two were issued to Cape Girardeau businesses that have both since corrected the issues cited in the letters.

The Pink Galleon, 2106 William St., and the Pilot House, 3532 Perryville Road, both received letters for having cigarette vending machines that do not require users to be 18 to purchase cigarettes. The Pink Galleon received its letter in August, while the Pilot House received a letter in June. Both establishments responded accordingly to the letters and are now in compliance.

Before receiving the letter, the Pink Galleon had a cigarette vending machine that allowed smokers to access the machine after asking a bartender to unlock it for purchase. In the letter, the FDA called remote-control access to the machines insufficient, and said it believed that minors, who are allowed in the establishment between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. with an adult, could access the tobacco.

"Your establishment has a vending machine that provides a consumer direct access to cigarettes without your ensuring that no person younger than 18 years of age is present or permitted to enter the establishment at any time," the letter said.

Since receiving the letter, the machine has been placed behind the bar to ensure that no minors can access tobacco products, Pink Galleon owner Chris Seib said. To purchase cigarettes, customers must ask an employee to retrieve the purchase, which ensures a hand-to-hand transaction, Seib said

"We removed accessibility to the cigarettes and put the machine in a non-customer area," Seib said.

Seib also owns clubs in St. Louis County and said that a law requiring remote control access to cigarette machines was enacted there a few years ago. When Seib's St. Louis County clubs complied with that law, he decided all of his establishments should have it.

The Pink Galleon's issues stated in the letter were immediately addressed and the bar passed another FDA inspection shortly after the letter was issued, Seib said.

The Pilot House had a regular access cigarette machine with a sticker that warned minors not to purchase cigarettes when it was inspected April 14 and received a letter regarding it June 23.

"A restrictive sticker on the vending machine is insufficient," the letter read. "It is your responsibility to take appropriate measures, such as checking identification upon entry, to ensure that no person younger than 18 years of age is present or permitted to enter the establishment at any time."

Upon receiving the letter, the machine was immediately removed, bartender Carletta Bohnert said.

"We just took it right out of here after we received the letter," Bohnert said.

The FDA inspected 26 businesses in Cape Girardeau and 11 in Jackson, according to its inspection database. The Pilot House and The Pink Galleon were the only businesses in both cities on the list. Three letters were issued to stores in Sikeston, Mo., two to stores in Chaffee, Mo., and two to stores in Poplar Bluff, Mo.

President Barack Obama signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act that gives the FDA authority to regulate tobacco products to prevent use by minors and reduce their affect on public health. One of the law's provisions permits the FDA to contract with states and territories to conduct compliance check inspections of tobacco retailers. In 2011, the FDA awarded compliance contracts totaling more than $24 million to 38 states, including the District of Columbia, supporting the creation of at least 266 jobs, according to the release.

The FDA has conducted more than 27,500 nationwide compliance checks that focus on age verification, requirements for labeling and advertising smokeless tobacco products, restrictions on the sale of single cigarettes, a ban on certain candy and fruit-flavored cigarettes and prohibiting self-service displays and vending machines.

"It should worry every parent that 20 percent of U.S. high school students smoke cigarettes," FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg said in a news release. "President Obama and the FDA are committed to preventing children from smoking."

psullivan@semissourian.com

388-3635

Pertinent address:

2106 William St., Cape Girardeau, Mo.

3532 Perryville Road, Cape Girardeau, Mo.