Following sting, Walgreens changing tobacco policy

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Walgreen Co. has agreed to use registers that will prompt cashiers to check IDs for cigarette sales.

The company has also agreed to pay $320,000 to 40 states to cover the cost of an investigation that found the drugstore giant failed to card minors 11 out of 12 times.

The Deerfield, Ill.-based company agreed to the changes and payments after undercover sting operations led by state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

Of the 11 stores in New York targeted, Walgreens had the worst record, failing to ask for proper identification 11 out of 12 times from minors who tried to buy cigarettes.

From April to June 2000, Spitzer's office conducted undercover investigations in more than 20 cities in upstate New York. About 47 percent of 170 attempted buys resulted in the sale of cigarettes to minors.

Walgreens also agreed to implement a training program for employees.

"We want to address this issue in a consistent way chainwide," the company said in a statement Wednesday.

Attorneys general from Arizona, California and Iowa helped negotiate the agreement, while 36 other states joined in the investigation because they were seeking similar enforcement in their states. New York conducted the only stings.