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Tougher Enforcement Coming For Selling Tobacco To Minors

Wikimedia Commons

Oneida county's rate of sale of tobacco to minors is just over 11 percent and a health department spokesperson says enforcement will be increased this year.

As part of the Wisconsin WINS, a statewide tobacco control effort, the Oneida County Health Department and the Northwoods Tobacco-Free Coalition conduct compliance checks with retailers to see if there are illegal sales to minors.

Spokesperson Maria Otterholt outlines the new enforcement effort...

".....what we're doing this year is following state statute 134.66 where if an illegal sale to a minor does occur, that business owner is going to be receiving a fine even if the clerk who sold did receive training...."

She says in previous years they looked at whether someone in the establishment had gone through tobacco training. If a sale occurred involving a clerk who had been trained, only the clerk was fined. But she says now they will also be giving a fine to the business owner as well.

Otterholt says free training is available online...

".....it's called Smokecheck.org and it's super simple to use, very easy to use. Log in, get training, they can get certified right on the website that says they have gone through all of the training and orientation materials they need to check an ID and make sure they are not selling tobacco to minors...."

Otterholt says any business selling tobacco to minors is subject to a second compliance check within the same year.

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