It's one of those strange situations that can only be produced by legislators; it's illegal to sell tobacco to minors, but it's not illegal for minors to buy it. A bill now in the South Carolina House would close that loophole by making it illegal for anyone under 18 to buy or possess tobacco.

Spartanburg Rep. Scott Talley is the sponsor of the bill. "It is absolutely against the law for people to sell to minors," Rep. Talley says. "The problem is, the way the law's written right now, there's no punishment for the minor who either attempts to purchase or, in fact, does purchase the tobacco product. So it's only on the retailer right now." 

The fine would be $100 for minors caught smoking or with tobacco. And the current $25 fine for selling to minors would also be raised to $100.

"One problem is it's not being prosecuted now because the $25 fine doesn't come close to covering the court costs to actually go in and prosecute it," Talley says.

Michelle Nienhius, prevention consultant for the state Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services (DAODAS), says she thinks the new law would cut down on teen smoking. "It's been done in several communities throughout South Carolina already," she says.

"It's what we call environmental prevention, where our prevention folks on the local level work with law enforcement agencies and they go out there and they write tickets and take those kids to court," she says. "It's had some success with alcohol, so I could very well see it having success with tobacco."

She thinks raising the fine for people who sell tobacco to minors would also have a big impact. She says last year the State Law Enforcement Division prosecuted only 36 cases in the entire state for selling tobacco to minors.