The ID effect on youth access to cigarettes.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Tobacco Control
• Behavioral Science

Background:

• Underage tobacco use remains a significant public health concern.
• Effective strategies are needed to prevent illegal cigarette sales to minors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the impact of minors presenting identification (ID) on cigarette sales rates.
• To assess how ID presentation influences the success of underage purchase attempts.

Main Methods:

• A controlled experiment was conducted in retail stores across six Colorado counties.
• Minors attempted to purchase cigarettes, either presenting valid photo ID or not, based on clerk requests.
• Uninformed retail clerks served as subjects, with sales rates analyzed based on ID presentation.

Main Results:

• When clerks requested ID, sales to minors were over six times more frequent if minors presented ID (12.2%) compared to when they did not (2.0%).
• The relative risk of sale increased significantly (RR 6.2, p < 0.0001) with ID presentation.
• This effect remained robust after adjusting for various demographic and circumstantial factors.

Conclusions:

• Presenting photo identification during compliance checks paradoxically increases illegal cigarette sales to minors.
• Effective clerk training on age calculation from photo ID is crucial for responsible sales practices.
• Future research and compliance programs should account for typical minor ID presentation behaviors.