SB 831 SETS UNIFORM RULES FOR TOBACCO SALES

No one wants minors to smoke, and the best way to prevent youth access to tobacco products is to set up one, tough, uniform law for the entire state of Missouri.

Preventing youth access to tobacco is why we support Senate Bill 831, which is designed both to prevent youth access and to be enforced easily and efficiently throughout Missouri.

With specific penalty provisions, this proposed bill is even more stringent than current Missouri state liquor laws.

SB 831 would make a real difference in reducing minors' access to tobacco products by taking steps such as:* Increasing fines on those who break the law by illegally selling or trying to purchase tobacco.* Requiring a license to sell tobacco.* Providing for random, unannounced inspections of outlets that sell tobacco.* Restricting placement of vending machines.

A uniform statewide law is both good public policy and good business policy. Businesses that sell tobacco products should be subject to the same uniform state rules from community to community. A patchwork quilt of local laws will unduly burden businesses by causing them to weave through myriad laws and regulations that vary from one locality to the next.

A single statewide law maintains a level playing field and ensures that all businesses are operating under the same rules.

Retail business people deserve and expect to have a uniform law govern the way they sell tobacco products in every town and city in Missouri. In the absence of uniformity, businesses with multiple locations will face the regulatory burden of attempting to comply with many different and perhaps conflicting local ordinances.

Because national and regional retail organizations operate stores throughout Missouri, lack of uniform state law needlessly complicates -- and ultimately undermines -- the ability of these establishments to train each of their employees to comply with the law, because the law varies from community to community.

Adult smokers should be able to purchase tobacco products, just like other age-restricted products, on the same terms and conditions from city to city. Adult smokers should be able to find the products they are seeking on the shelves, comparably displayed and promoted, regardless of whether the retail store is located in St. Louis or Joplin.

SB 831 will bring all of us in Missouri a long way toward our common goal of assuring that minors cannot purchase tobacco.

~Sam Overfelt is president of the Missouri Retailers Association. Jacqueline Goldammer is director of the Missouri Association of Convenience Stores.