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RALEIGH — If North Carolina plans to crack down on teen smoking, it needs enforceable laws. That's according to State Attorney General Mike Easley.
Easley told the group North Carolinians for Tobacco-Free Kids that he will propose changes to the current laws next week when the legislature returns. Right now it is illegal for anyone under age 18 to buy tobacco, but the state has to prove a clerk knowingly made the sale to a minor before it can prosecute.
Easley says the goal is simple, but we need tools to reach it.
Easley adds he will propose removing the word "knowingly" from the present law. He also says he wants to ban tobacco vending machines from areas where minors can get to them, and require photo identification checks for the sale of tobacco
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