ARLINGTON, Va. -- While the retail compliance organization We Card offers signage and compliance information throughout the year, September marks the second annual We Card Awareness Month, during which the We Card organization and its corporate partners seek to both elevate retailer’s awareness of various tobacco regulations and encourage them to order material’s for the next year.
“Last year was our first year, and we thought it was a great success,” said We Card president Doug Anderson. “We had a larger volume of orders throughout the year as a result of our September push, as well as greater trial use and exposure to our online training.”
“Our key mission is to elevate the awareness at this time of the year,” he continued, “to get retailers to understand FDA regulations and all their ever-changing state and local regulations.”
In that ever-changing regulatory landscape, We Card has adjusted its 2015 program and materials (which are now available) to reflect hot-button issues in the world of tobacco: minimum-age requirements and e-vapor.
“Some of the states are considering changing the minimum age, retailers need to pay attention to that,” Anderson said, pointing to New York City’s decision to raise its minimum purchase age to 21, which went into effect last May.
As such, We Card now offers a minimum-age calendar for states where the purchase age is 21 (or 19) and signage that says “Under 21, No Tobacco” instead of just the 18 version. Likewise, the organization has signs and decals that address electronic cigarette sales, reading “Under 18 (or 19 or 21), No E-Cigarettes.”
“Right now, there’s some 41 states that regulate e-cigarettes: that’s more than doubled since last year,” Anderson said. “This is a distinct category in c-store, and they’re electing to also use these signs. It isn’t a tobacco product from the sense of a consumer’s perception so signage is needed. That’s one of the things we want to sort of elevate amongst retail employees.”
The increase in electronic cigarette sales and regulations has also led to new partners for We Card: besides industry vets like NACS, NATO, Altria and Reynolds, vapor manufacturers are also joining the cause.
“We now have more than a handful of e-cigarette companies supporting our mission and communicating out to their retail partners,” said Anderson. “It has helped normalize carding and denying sales to minors of that category.”
This support will be especially important as FDA deeming goes from proposal to law--something NATO president Thomas Briant predicts could happen within the next 12-18 months.
“I think retailers are going to make a smooth transition to treating e-cigs like it’s an age-restricted product,” Anderson said. “The 40 states where it’s now restricted, it’s logical to assume that those 40 are going to quickly turn into 50. That transition will be easier because many of the retailers are doing it now because the state laws are requiring it.”
Whether e-vapor and minimum age requirements continue to challenge retailers or a new set of requirements come into focus next year or beyond, Anderson said it’s crucial for retailers to remain diligent about educating themselves on the requirements surrounding tobacco sales.
“From our perspective, retailers need to be on guard—and we try to help them be on guard—for those changes that occur,” he said. “The good news is, once retailers become aware of a law, they want to be compliant.”
The 2013 federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) report on the Synar Amendment program is evidence of this desire to be compliant. The report showed that just 9.6% of the inspected retail stores nationwide sold tobacco products to an undercover minor, well below the 20% target violation rate set by the program.
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