Walgreen to Toughen Policies on Tobacco

Walgreen Co., the largest U.S. drugstore chain, will crack down on sales of cigarettes and other tobacco products to children as part of an agreement with 40 states.

The company, which operates 3,651 stores in 43 states, will stop selling cigarette papers and pipes to children, improve the training of store clerks to end sales to minors, and notify customers that it will check the identification of anyone who looks to be under age 27, Walgreen and state officials said.

Walgreen is the first U.S. retailer to announce new policies that aim to stop teenagers from smoking as part of an initiative by state officials, Michigan Atty. Gen. Jennifer Granholm said. Attorneys general are in talks with other U.S. retailers, which weren’t named, to come up with similar accords, she said.

The agreement requires Walgreen to minimize its use of employees younger than 18 as clerks who sell tobacco products; train workers about health reasons for the ban on sales to children; and monitor its enforcement, Walgreen spokesman Michael Polzin said. It also requires an end of self-service displays for cigarettes and smokeless tobacco products.

Attorneys general representing the largest U.S. states, including California, New York, Florida and Texas, were among the 40 officials who made the agreement, according to the Michigan attorney general’s office.

“This agreement will serve as a model for all drugstores and retailers,” Florida Atty. Gen. Bob Butterworth said.