Learning Objective #1: Identify two policies that decrease sale of tobacco to youth

Learning Objective #2: Discuss cessation as a way to decrease youth tobacco access

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The purpose of this comparative study was to contrast the sale of tobacco to youth and merchant policies/practices between smoking and nonsmoking merchants. Betty Neuman's Theoretical Framework was used to guide this study. Licensed tobacco merchants were mailed surveys regarding their business policies/practices and their personal smoking status. The forty-four returned surveys (75.9 %) were matched with their tobacco compliance results which indicated if the business sold tobacco to youth during a county compliance check. The results demonstrate that managers or owners, who completed new employee training, had not sold tobacco to the youth at their most recent tobacco compliance check (61.9%, n=13). Businesses who failed their most recent tobacco compliance check by selling tobacco to youth (70%, n=7) had utilized experience employees to complete this training. Merchants who smoked tended to sell tobacco products to youth more often than those who did not smoke X2(2, n=41) 6.66, p=0.036. The finding suggests the need to focus on smoking status of merchants as a prevention strategy for decreasing the sales of tobacco to youth. Implications include using this information to assess individual community needs and develop a community education plan for merchants who smoke, thereby impacting youth access to tobacco. Additionally, this information provides best practices and policies to improve tobacco compliance rates and decreasing youth tobacco sales.