Attorneys Attack Youth Smoking

By STEVE LeBLANC

Underage smokers may have a harder time buying cigarettes at gas stations and convenience stores across the country, under a deal announced Tuesday by attorneys general in 43 states and Exxon Mobil Corp. As part of the settlement, Exxon Mobil will hire an outside firm to conduct random checks at company-owned stores to see if employees are complying with the agreement and not selling tobacco products to children.

Exxon Mobil has also agreed to implement a new employee training program to teach clerks to check identifications of customers who appear younger than 27.

The company also agreed to ban self-service displays of tobacco products, end distribution of free tobacco product samples on store property and use store security cameras to monitor compliance.

The settlement, a copy of which was filed Tuesday in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston, was the result of ongoing discussions between Exxon Mobil and the attorneys general, said Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas Reilly.

"Keeping tobacco away from children is a very important priority and is critically important to public health," Reilly said.

The four states leading the drive for an agreement were California, Iowa, Texas and Michigan.

Massachusetts law already bars stores from using self-service tobacco displays and distributing free tobacco products.

Officials at Exxon Mobil, the country's largest oil company, said they have already taken steps to make it harder for children to buy cigarettes at their stores, and agreed to take the extra measures on the recommendations of the attorneys general.

"We are very serious about taking additional action to prevent minors from buying cigarettes and other tobacco products," Jim Carter, regional director of Exxon Mobil said in a written statement.

The agreement applies to Exxon Mobil's roughly 1,000 gas stations and convenience stores nationwide, with 27 in Massachusetts.

The company agreed to work with another 16,000 independently owned franchises that bear the Exxon or Mobil name, with 550 in Massachusetts, to make sure they comply with the law.

The company will require the franchises to commit in writing not to sell cigarettes to minors and report to the company if they are cited by law enforcement agencies for violating tobacco laws.

The agreement encompasses 43 states, two U.S. territories and the District of Columbia.