WELCH - The McDowell County Hope Coalition met recently to discuss the “ West Virginia See Red Campaign” and how to reduce the tobacco buy rate for underage youth.
According to the Southern Coalfield Tobacco Prevention Coalition Network Coordinator Donald Reed Jr., a recent compliance check in McDowell County revealed that 50 percent of the time, local retailers sold tobacco to underage youth. Mingo County had a zero percent buy rate; Wyoming County’s was 9 percent and Mercer County’s was 6 percent. Selling tobacco to underage youth is illegal and results in fines that are easily avoided, Reed said.
The penalty for the first time is a fine of $25 per infraction for both the clerk and the retailer. The penalty for the second time increases to a $200 fine for both the retailer and the clerk, Reed said.
The compliance checks are a part of the “See Red” program, which is designed to remind retailers not to sell tobacco to minors.
“We’re not trying to be hard on retailers,” he said. “The compliance checks are a part of the federal mandate to the state.”
West Virginia’s overall composite rate is currently 18 percent.

“If it climbs to 20 percent we’re in trouble and lose 40 percent of our federal prevention funding,” Reed said.
Reed noted that he and Smokeless Tobacco Prevention Coordinator Kathy Bailey and others are doing all they can to lower the compliance rate to zero and to offer assistance to tobacco users who want to kick the habit.
“Our concern is that we’re not creating an environment where youth reject tobacco, Reed said. “It is a reality that we, as adults, are putting a product into the hands of kids that kills them.”
Reed reminds retailers that if they see red on a driver’s license the sale is dead. Minors’ licenses are clearly flagged in red as a reminder to the merchant.
Compliance checks for underage tobacco sales are done regularly, so clerks should always check a youth’s driver’s license to insure that the retailer complies with the law.
“We encourage tobacco users to call the WV Quit line for free nicotine patches and gum. The number is 877-966-8784,” he said.
Reed may be reached at 320-9990.