Kroger Joins Effort to Keep Tobacco Sales From Minors

Source from:  portclintonnewsherald.com News Herald reports  10/26/2007

Attorney General Marc Dann has joined attorneys general of 41 other states and Guam in an agreement with Kroger Co. The agreement released Tuesday provides that Kroger implement comprehensive youth prevention tobacco retailing practices in its company owned stores. "In many neighborhoods, Kroger is the local grocery, and we need to make sure that the children frequenting those stores are protected," Dann said. "Kroger joins other stores that have agreed to make good faith efforts to make sure stores don't market tobacco to children, and I hope other retailers follow suit, to protect our children." Kroger will also take a number of steps to prevent youth access to tobacco in its franchise outlets, including providing annual notices of the importance of complying with youth access laws, requiring franchisees to report violations to the corporate office and modifying franchise agreements to provide that violations of youth access laws could constitute grounds for termination or nonrenewal of the franchise agreement. The Kroger agreement is the 11th produced by an ongoing, attorneys general multistate enforcement effort. Previous agreements cover all 7-Eleven, CVS, Wal-Mart, Walgreens and Rite Aid stores, and all gas stations and convenience stores operating under the Conoco, Phillips 66, 76, Exxon, Mobil, BP, Amoco, ARCO and Chevron brand names, in the signing states. Combined, the agreements cover more than 80,000 retail outlets across the nation. Launched in 2000, the multistate enforcement effort by the attorneys general seeks to secure national retailers' agreement to take specific corrective actions to prevent sales of tobacco products to minors. State laws prohibit such sales. The agreements incorporate "best practices" to reduce sales to minors, developed by the attorneys general in consultation with researchers and state and federal tobacco control officials. The attorneys general have long recognized that youth access to tobacco products ranks among the most serious public health problems. Studies show more than 80 percent of adult smokers begin 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 start smoking and that one-third of those people ultimately will 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. Kroger Co. has 2,468 supermarkets in 31 states under two dozen banners and 779 convenience stores in 15 states under 5 banners. All but 92 of the convenience stores are company-owned. There are 214 Kroger Co. stores in Ohio. Enditem