Local businesses will be tested this month to see whether they are checking identification, as required, when teens attempt to buy tobacco products. Throughout July, teenagers assisting the health department will attempt to buy tobacco products from stores, and those store employees who remember to check identification will be commended for compliance, typically through a letter from Luce-Mackinac-Alger- Schoolcraft (LMAS) District Health Department.

Those who attempt to sell tobacco products to minors without first checking teir identification will be told of the error and educated on how to prevent illegal sales.

"We're not out there doing this to say, 'Hey, we caught you,'" said Melanie MacDowell of the health department. "We are out there to educate the businesses."

The month-long compliance check and accompanying education sessions are part of the national Youth Tobacco Act and statewide Tobacco Retailer Education Initiative.

The checks involve a teenager entering a store and attempting to buy tobacco products without presenting identification. Teenagers will be paid a small stipend for their role, and businesses will be selected randomly by the State of Michigan. The Michigan Department of Community Health and Pathways/NorthCare Network Substance Abuse Coordinating Agency are partnering with LMAS to present educational sessions and check compliance.

Federal and Michigan law makes it illegal for anyone younger than 18 to purchase tobacco. As of July 1, 2003, Michigan began issuing a vertical driver's license to people younger than age 21, and the distinctive shape instantly alerts retailers that the cardholder is too young to buy alcohol. Cashiers must go the extra step to check the license, however, to read if the purchaser is too young for tobacco products, too.

Mrs. MacDowell said Tobacco Reduction and Prevention coordinators spent the month of June talking with roughly 20% of the county's businesses. She keeps a list of businesses that she met with the previous year, and avoids those while trying to cover the rest of the county. Retailers learn the potential costs of selling tobacco to minors, tips for employee training, how to place tobacco products away from teenage hands, and where to display Youth Tobacco Act signs.

The health department reports that tobacco use is the number one cause of preventable death in Michigan, and that most people who use tobacco started using it before age 18. It is also known that the earlier a person starts using tobacco, the more difficult it is to quit, Mrs. MacDowell added, which is the reason for the Youth Tobacco Act.

Each year, thousands of teens become addicted to tobacco, and the immediate goal of these efforts is to find out how many retailers are illegally selling tobacco to minors. The long-term goal is to raise awareness of youth tobacco use, and to reduce the sales of tobacco to minors.

A state survey revealed that one in four high school aged children in Michigan has used tobacco products in the past 30 days. While that rate is high, Mrs. MacDowell said, it has dropped every year in the past decade.

"One reason for this decline is that cigarettes are getting more difficult for youth to obtain," said Merrilee Keller, NorthCare Network prevention coordinator.