By Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist
Circle K Stores Inc. and Mac’s Convenience Stores have signed an agreement with 40 state attorneys general to eliminate underage tobacco sales.
The multistate agreement covers about 4,000 tobacco-selling convenience stores in 32 states. Stores covered by the agreement operate under the names Circle K, Dairymart, and On The Run. Fifty-nine stores in Washington state are affected by it.
Circle K will adopt procedures designed to reduce sales and marketing of cigarettes and other tobacco products to minors in about 3,000 corporate-owned stores and will adopt methods to curb underage tobacco sales at another 1,000 franchise locations.
“Teens tend to view convenience stores as places where access to tobacco is easier,” Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna said in a statement about the settlement. “That’s why I appreciate that Circle K is stepping up to join the companies strengthening procedures to curtail tobacco sales to minors, both in Washington state and nationwide.”
Curbing underage smoking is important because the majority of adult smokers start before they reached 18, young people show signs of addiction after smoking only a few cigarettes, and the younger a person begins to smoke the more likely he or she will be unable to quit and will suffer from a tobacco-related disease, the agreement states.
The agreement incorporates “best practices” developed with public health and tobacco control officials, McKenna said. It includes training for clerks and independent checks to monitor sales practices.
Other multistate agreements have covered gas station convenience stores selling fuel under the Conoco, Phillips 66 or 76, Exxon, Mobil, BP Amoco, Shell, Valero, ARCO, and Chevron brand names, and retail and pharmacy chains Kroger, 7-Eleven, Walgreens, Rite Aid, CVS, and Walmart.
Details of the agreement include:
· The IDS of all persons who appear to be under 30 will be checked to protect against mistakes by clerks in evaluating a person’s age by appearance alone.
· In-store advertising of tobacco must be limited in ways intended to reduce the effect on young people, and outdoor advertising is to be eliminated at stores within 500 feet of playgrounds or schools.
· Employee training will focus on the mechanics of eliminating underage tobacco sales and will also emphasize the serious health issues that give rise to the legal efforts to restrict youth access to tobacco.
· Circle K will test itself on the effectiveness of its own safeguards against underage sales by conducting “mystery shopper” compliance check at 500 of its stores every six months.
· Circle K agreed to pay the attorneys general $225,000 to be used for consumer education, public protection, or carrying out programs to prevent tobacco use by minors.
For more information for boomer consumers, see my blog The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide.
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