Fwd: Connecticut Joins Agreement To Curb Tobacco Sales to Minor

Editor's Note: This information is a press release. It is shared here unedited.

 

HARTFORD – Attorney General George Jepsen said Connecticut has joined with the attorneys general of 38 other states and the District of Columbia in a multi-state agreement with Circle K Stores Inc. and Mac's Convenience Stores LLC to curb the sale of tobacco products to minors.

 The agreement affects the nearly 3,000 company-owned and franchise stores of Texas-based Circle K, including 10 franchise stores in Connecticut, and more than 1,100 stores of the Delaware-based Mac's Convenience Stores. No Mac's stores are located in Connecticut.

 

"More than 80 percent of regular adult smokers say they began smoking as children," Jepsen said. "The younger a person begins smoking, the more likely it is that he or she will be unable to quit in later life and will suffer a disease attributable to tobacco use."

 

"From a public health perspective, we can't afford it. From a public policy perspective, we have to do whatever we can to make sure existing state laws are followed and tobacco products are kept out of the hands of children and teens," Jepsen said. "This agreement will help to accomplish that goal."

 

Connecticut prohibits the sale of tobacco products to consumers younger than 18. The attorneys general estimate that 690 million packs of cigarettes are sold illegally to children each year and that more than 400,000 Americans die each year from tobacco-related illnesses.

The agreement applies to the company-operated stores and on an advisory basis to the franchise operations. It requires comprehensive training of company store employees and franchisees about the health reasons behind the sale restrictions on tobacco products; requires government-issued forms of photo identification for purchasers who appear under the age of 30 and prohibits self-service displays, the use of vending machines and distributions of free samples on store property.

 

In addition, the company will hire an independent company to conduct compliance checks at 500 stores every six months and pay the attorneys general $225,000 for their investigative costs. Connecticut's share of that money has not been determined.

 

Assistant Attorney General Heather J. Wilson represented Jepsen in this matter.

 

The agreement, negotiated by the National Association of Attorneys General Tobacco Retailer's Group, is the 14^th with retailers of tobacco products. Others were reached with companies such as Walgreens, ExxonMobil, Wal-Mart, Rite-Aid and 7-Eleven.