Verdict on Woodridge law: Fewer kids try cigarettes

Tough law enforcement can curb the sale of cigarettes to minors,helping to prevent smoking by youths, Chicago researchers arereporting.

Experimentation with cigarettes by junior high school studentsin southwest suburban Woodridge dropped 50 percent over two years -to 23 percent - after the village passed a tough law prohibitingsales to minors, psychologist Leonard Jason and colleagues fromDePaul University said.

Under the law, modeled after liquor licensing laws, stores thatsell cigarettes to minors face suspension of cigarette sales licensesand fines of up to $500. Minors can be fined $25 for possession.

In Wednesday's edition of the Journal of the …