How to avoid selling tobacco to underage customers

One week apart and in cities on separate coasts, the challenge of curbing tobacco sales to minors grabbed headlines. In Seattle, a study that found convenience stores with gas pumps in the Seattle market are the most likely to violate laws banning the sale of tobacco to minors; and in Springfield, Mass., store owners, health officials and city councilors are planning more severe penalties on businesses caught selling cigarettes and other tobacco products to minors.

The findings in the Seattle study, conducted by the Group Health Community Foundation in that city, will be published in the August issue of The American Journal of Preventive Medicine, according to a July 17 article by Eric Nagourney in The New York Times.

The plan to establish tougher penalties in Springfield, Mass., will likely be voted on in August, according to a July 11 article by Mike Plaisance in The Republican. The change calls for the clerk who actually makes a sale to someone below age 18 to be fined $100.

Retailers seeking guidance on how to avoid selling tobacco to underage consumers can refer to literature available from The Coalition for Responsible Tobacco Retailing, a group of companies and trade associations that includes the National Association of Convenience Stores, Philip Morris USA, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Lorillard Tobacco Co.

One of the coalition’s main functions is to understand and communicate retailers’ best practices regarding tobacco sales, allowing retailers to benefit from the experiences of others.

The Coalition has collected information about retailer experiences by working with thousands of retailers nationwide since 1995, such as the nearly 100,000 retailers trained in more than 1,900 We Card classroom training sessions. It has also worked with many local agencies to provide retail education and training.

The coalition has compiled what has been learned from these experiences into the We Card Guide to Best Practices, which serves as a comprehensive guide to preventing underage tobacco sales.

The Best Practices guide includes the following tips:

-Require every employee to ask for identification in the form of a valid photo ID from any person who looks under the age of 27.

Carding people who look under 27 years of age remains a safeguard against selling tobacco to underage purchasers. Because people can use clothes, makeup, or even facial hair to make them look older, the best practice is to ask for ID from anyone who appears under the age of 27.

-Educate employees about state laws and store policies.

All 50 states and the District of Columbia have state laws making it illegal to sell tobacco products to any person under the age of 18 (19 in Alabama, Alaska, New Jersey and Utah). Make sure new hires understand their state law. Store policies about when to ask for ID and disciplinary actions for selling tobacco to underage customers should also be clearly communicated to all employees.

-Make sure store policies are fair and consistent.

Setting up fair and consistent store policies is a good way to make sure employees clearly understand their responsibility to refuse underage sales, especially those in situations not covered by state law.

More information is available at the coalition’s Web site, wecard.org.