(Washington, DC)   Robert J. Spagnoletti, Attorney General for the District of Columbia, and the Attorneys General of twenty states, today announced an agreement with Rite Aid to implement new policies and business practices to reduce the sale of tobacco products to minors in Rite Aid stores throughout the nation, including its eight stores in the District of Columbia.

The agreement, an “Assurance of Voluntary Compliance,” requires Rite Aid to do the following:

• Train employees on state and local laws and company policies regarding tobacco sales to minors, including explaining the health-related reasons for laws that restrict youth access to tobacco.
• Check the ID of any person purchasing tobacco products when the person appears to be under age 27, and only accept currently valid government-issued photo identification as proof of age.
• Use cash registers programmed to prompt ID checks on all tobacco sales.
• Hire an independent entity to conduct random compliance checks of over 10% of all Rite Aid stores in the participating states every six months.
• Prohibit self-service displays of tobacco products, the use of vending machines to sell tobacco products, the sale of cigarette look-alike products, and the distribution of free samples on store property.
• Prohibit the sale of smoking paraphernalia to minors.

The Attorneys General have long recognized that youth access to tobacco products ranks among the most serious public health problems.  Studies show that more than 80 percent of adult smokers began smoking before the age of 18.  Research indicates that every day in the United States, more than 2,000 people under the age of 18 begin smoking and that one-third of those persons will one day die from a tobacco-related disease.  Young people are particularly susceptible to the hazards of tobacco, often showing signs of addiction after smoking only a few cigarettes.

The voluntary agreement with Rite Aid is the most recent result of an ongoing, multi-state enforcement effort. The enforcement effort, focusing on retailers that have high rates of tobacco sales to minors, seeks to secure agreement to adopt procedures to prevent sales to underage youth. The states had previously reached separate agreements with Walgreens and Wal-mart about their sales practices, and along with the District of Columbia, had reached an agreement with ExxonMobil regarding sales of tobacco products in gas stations operating under the Exxon and Mobil brand names.