Despite ban, 31 of 33 west-end stores sell lotto tickets to 15-year-old
LYNN MOORE
The Gazette
Monday 6 August 2001
The clerk gave the girl with the Mickey Mouse knapsack a hard look and then - with a huge grin on his face and a twinkle in his eye - asked, "Are you over 18?"
But the man behind the cash register at the Monoprix depanneur on Monkland Ave. didn't wait for an answer before pressing the button on the Loto-Quebec terminal and selling the 15-year-old girl a lottery ticket.
At least he asked.
The vast majority of clerks who sold Angela Kempin-Wood 6/49 tickets yesterday didn't blink an eye, despite an 18-month-old law that bans the sale of lottery tickets to minors.
In the course of an afternoon romp through west-end Montreal, Kempin-Wood sought lottery tickets at 33 outlets.
Only two of the stores refused to sell to the girl when she couldn't produce identification.
PHIL CARPENTER, GAZETTE /
Angela Kempin-Wood, age 15:
"After the first four (stores) when they just gave the tickets to me, I was like, 'My gosh, this is too easy.' "
"This shows that nobody cares about the law," said Sol Boxenbaum, the head of the Montreal West consulting firm that sponsored yesterday's survey.
"They aren't being penalized when they sell to minors."
Boxenbaum conducted a similar survey in May 2000 during which two 16-year-old students were able to buy lottery tickets at 25 of 31 outlets.
Boxenbaum said studies that assess the effectiveness of laws barring the sale of tobacco products to minors indicate the profits gained by selling to teens far outweigh the stiff fines assessed against violators.
"It's the same with lottery tickets," he said. "It's in the best (financial) interests of the stores to do the sale and pay the fine."
After last year's survey, both his firm - Viva Consulting - and Loto-Quebec each informed the 25 outlets that they had sold lottery tickets to minors, Boxenbaum said. Twenty of the 33 stores that sold tickets to Kempin-Wood yesterday had sold tickets to minors during last year's survey.
If Loto-Quebec doesn't enforce its own policy and crack down on sales to minors, Boxenbaum said, he will file complaints with police and attempt to have yesterday's offenders charged with violating the provincial law that states businesses must make "a reasonable effort" to verify the age of people who might be minors.
Sea of Advertising
Under the law, outlets could face fines of $300 to $2,000 for a first offence and $600 to $6,000 for repeat offences. Under Loto-Quebec's policy, a second offence would result in a 30-day suspension of the right to sell lottery tickets and a third offence would have the right permanently removed. First-time offenders receive a warning.
Boxenbaum said he doesn't know of any Quebec firm being charged under the law.
Loto-Quebec officials couldn't be reached for comment yesterday.
At most of the outlets visited by Kempin-Wood yesterday, there were signs indicating people had to be over 18 to purchase lottery tickets. But they were lost in a sea of advertising about the various jackpots or new Loto-Quebec products. The most prevalent sign was a little Loto-Quebec sticker, about the size of a man's thumb, that said 18+.
At least one store had made an attempt to remind staff about the law. At the Jean Coutu pharmacy at 5820 Monkland Ave., someone had taped a hand-written note to the ticket dispenser that told staff to ascertain whether the customer was over 18 "B4 selling a ticket."
The clerk at that store - which was among Boxenbaum's list of violators last year - hardly looked at Kempin-Wood. The store's assistant manager - contacted by The Gazette later in the day - said "it was possible" that one of his staff had sold a ticket to a minor.
"What does this person look like? Is she 6 feet tall and looks like she is 23? You can't ask everybody for ID," he said.
Kempin-Wood doesn't think she looks over 18, and she was nervous when she started yesterday's survey.
"After the first four (stores) when they just gave the tickets to me, I was like, 'My gosh, this is too easy,' " said Kempin-Wood, who turned 15 in April.
By the end of the day, she wanted to engage her mother in a 5-cent bet that the final store on her list would sell her a ticket. Mom refused her; the store didn't.
No teeth to law
Aside from the two stores that refused to sell her lottery tickets, Kempin-Wood was asked twice if she was over 18 and she answered, "Yes."
In the case of the salesman at Monoprix - who refused to give his name, denied he was the manager and said the store's owner was away on vacation - that question seemed to be pure window dressing.
"He could tell I wasn't 18. He was looking at me like 'I don't believe you but here, take (the ticket),' " Kempin-Wood said.
Boxenbaum said his biggest beef is with authorities who refuse to give teeth to the law.
He met several times with Loto-Quebec officials in a bid to have his consulting firm work with the government agency on the problem of sales to minors.
"After stalling us from May to December, they are ignoring us," he said.
The two outlets that refused to sell to Kempin-Wood yesterday - a Cantor Bakeries outlet and a Jean Coutu pharmacy, both on Sherbrooke St. W. in Notre Dame de Grace - had sold lottery tickets to the teenagers last May.
Further Readings:
Sales to teens are not a concern: Loto-Quebec
