Executive Summary

In May, 1994 twelve state Attorneys General formed a Working Group to study the problem of illegal tobacco sales to minors. Despite state laws prohibiting these sales, underage customers purchase over half a billion packs of cigarettes and twenty-six million containers of chewing tobacco every year. The Attorneys General are concerned about these sales because, in addition to being illegal, cigarette smoking is an addiction typically initiated during the teenage years.

Ninety percent of smokers report they began smoking as teenagers. The average age at which teenage smokers first begin smoking is thirteen to fourteen years, and by age eighteen, teens are smoking at a rate very near  adults. Unlike adolescent use of alcohol and other drugs, adolescent smoking behavior has not declined since the early 1980's, and some statistics show an increase in underage smoking. In 1990, 19% of high school seniors smoked daily, and 29% had smoked in the last month.

These smoking rates illustrate that young people have ready access to tobacco. And, from all studies, it appears their major source of tobacco is from over-the-counter sales by retail merchants. Because of the health hazards that flow from tobacco use, Congress, in 1992, passed legislation mandating that states improve their enforcement of laws prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to minors. To promote compliance with the requirements of this federal legislation and with our state laws, the Working Group met with various segments of the retail community, including representatives from convenience stores, supermarkets, gas station stores, drugstores, and discount stores, as well as their respective trade associations, to determine what efforts were being made by retailers to prevent tobacco sales to minors. The Working Group was particularly interested in those efforts that had proven most effective at reducing or eliminating illegal tobacco sales.

After carefully reviewing the information we gathered during the course of this investigation, including our meetings with the retail industry and our examination of their current training materials, electronic price scanner systems, product placement criteria, signage and in-house monitoring systems, the Working Group recommends the following measures be undertaken by all tobacco retailers, to substantially reduce illegal tobacco sales to minors:

* USE SECRET SHOPPERS TO MONITOR EMPLOYEE COMPLIANCE WITH THE LAW AND REWARD EMPLOYEES WHO COMPLY

* PROGRAM EXISTING ELECTRONIC PRICE SCANNERS WITH TOBACCO "LOCKS" TO HELP CONTROL TOBACCO SALES

* EXPEDITE THE USE OF PRICE SCANNER SYSTEMS WITH TOBACCO "LOCKS"

* DEVELOP EFFECTIVE TRAINING MATERIALS ON AVOIDING ILLEGAL TOBACCO SALES TO MINORS, AND GIVE THIS TRAINING EQUAL EMPHASIS WITH TRAINING ON AVOIDING ILLEGAL ALCOHOL SALES

* HOLD STORE MANAGERS ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR STORES' COMPLIANCE WITH THE LAW

* KEEP TOBACCO PRODUCTS BEHIND THE SALES COUNTER OR IN LOCKED CASES

* DO NOT SELL SINGLE CIGARETTES EITHER IN OPEN DISPLAYS OR FROM BEHIND THE COUNTER

* POST PROMINENT SIGNS TO REINFORCE THE LAW

* REMOVE CIGARETTE VENDING MACHINES FROM RETAIL STORES

* REQUIRE PROOF OF AGE, IN THE FORM OF A RELIABLE PHOTOGRAPHIC IDENTIFICATION, FOR ANYONE WHO APPEARS TO BE 25 OR YOUNGER

* REMOVE ADVERTISEMENTS, IN-STORE DISPLAYS AND PROMOTIONAL ITEMS THAT ENCOURAGE MINORS TO BUY TOBACCO

* IN THE ALTERNATIVE, RETAILERS WHO PREFER NOT TO TAKE PROACTIVE STEPS TO PREVENT ILLEGAL SALES SHOULD CONSIDER SIMPLY ELIMINATING TOBACCO FROM THEIR STORES

The Working Group also recommends states strengthen laws banning the sale of tobacco to minors and improve enforcement by applying the following principles:

* LEGISLATURES SHOULD BE WARY OF SOLUTIONS ADVANCED BY THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY

* STATE LEGISLATION SHOULD NOT PREEMPT LOCAL ORDINANCES

* STATE LAWS SHOULD CREATE OR REQUIRE A LICENSING SYSTEM FOR TOBACCO SALES

* THE LICENSING AND ENFORCEMENT SYSTEM SHOULD BE SELF- SUPPORTING

* THE LICENSING SYSTEM SHOULD USE GRADUATED FINES, WITH LICENSE SUSPENSION FOR REPEAT OFFENSES

* THE LAW SHOULD INCLUDE POSITIVE INCENTIVES FOR RESPONSIBLE RETAILING

* THE LAW SHOULD REQUIRE PERIODIC COMPLIANCE CHECKS

* THE LAW SHOULD NOT LIMIT WHO CAN CONDUCT COMPLIANCE TESTS

* STATE LAWS SHOULD LIMIT YOUTH ACCESS TO TOBACCO BY RESTRICTING VENDING MACHINE SALES AND PROHIBITING FREE SAMPLING

* STATE LAWS SHOULD REQUIRE DRIVER'S LICENSES BE DESIGNED TO MAKE AGE IDENTIFICATION EASY