RETAIL TOBACCO TRAINING PROGRAM COMPONENTS

In addition to a complete training program, employees should support each other in obeying the laws, following store policies, and making decisions about refusing tobacco-related sales. At a minimum, your retail tobacco training program should include the following components:

• Overview of company policy regarding the responsible sale of tobacco
• Statement of management support and accountability
• Employee statements indicating they agree to adhere to company policies and procedures and that they acknowledge selling tobacco to minors is illegal
• Overview of state and local laws regulating the sale and distribution of tobacco to minors
  • Sign posting requirements – WE Card program does not comply with state law!
• Instruction on the legal age to purchase tobacco products:
  • Customers must be 18 years of age to purchase tobacco products or tobacco paraphernalia
• The consequences to the clerk of making an illegal sale of tobacco to a minor
• Health and legal reasons why tobacco shouldn’t be sold to youth
• A clear definition of what constitutes a tobacco product and tobacco paraphernalia:
  • Tobacco products include any substance containing tobacco leaf or biologically active amounts of nicotine (except for products specifically approved by the Federal Food and Drug Administration for use in treating nicotine or tobacco product dependence). These include but are not limited to:
    • Cigarettes
    • Cigars
    • Pipe tobacco
    • Snuff
    • Chewing or smokeless tobacco
    • Dipping tobacco
    • Bidis
    • Hookahs
    • Nicotine water
    • Nicotine lollipops
  • Tobacco paraphernalia includes:
    • Cigarette wrappers
    • Pipes
    • Holders of smoking materials of all types
    • Cigarette rolling machines
    • Any item designed for the smoking or ingestion of tobacco products
• Instruction on when and how to ask for identification from a customer:
  • Retailers must check the identification of tobacco purchasers who reasonably appear to be under 18 years of age
• Instruction on the acceptable forms for ID (including written materials that include samples of acceptable identification)
• Instruction on how to detect a false ID
• Instruction on how and when to refuse a tobacco-related sale
• Instruction on how to refuse second-party sales (where an adult clearly purchases for a minor)
• Strategies for dealing with difficult customers
• Strategies to conduct ongoing compliance checks and provide feedback to the tobacco retail outlet
• Culturally and linguistically appropriate materials for employees
• Examples of rewards and incentives for clerks who refuse to sell tobacco to minors