The mission of the ABLE Commission is to protect the public welfare and interest by enforcing laws on alcoholic beverages, charity games, and youth access to tobacco. When it comes to tobacco, ABLE has the authority to assess administrative fines that range from $ 100 to $300 to retail clerks who have been found to complete underage tobacco sales. Non-payment of an assessed fine could result in driver's license suspension. A store's tobacco or sales tax permit is also subject to suspension.
Youth Tobacco Prevention
When young people don't start tobacco use, addiction rates will gradually decline -- thus eliminating the problem. Tobacco continues to be the leading preventable cause of death in Oklahoma, causing about 7,500 deaths per year. Smoking kills more Oklahomans than alcohol, auto accidents, HIV, suicides, murders and illegal drugs combined. Oklahomans spend approximately $1.88 billion per year on smoking-related health costs, while the tobacco industry spends an estimated $149.5 million annually to market tobacco products in Oklahoma.
Lifetime smoking and other tobacco use almost always begins by the time the individual graduates from high school. According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, nearly 80% of all adult smokers begin smoking by age 18, and 90% do so before the age of 21.
Nearly half (47%) of adult smokers transition to daily smoking before age 18, and eight in 10 transition to daily smoking before they turn 21. For this reason, preventing youth access to tobacco is one of the most powerful ways to prevent tobacco use initiation and the subsequent addiction that leads to poor health outcomes.
According to the 2022 Policy Recommendations Guide, best practices to curtail youth initiation of tobacco products include increasing cigarette tax, making tobacco use the exception and not the norm by having tobacco-free environments to eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke and aerosol, limiting the availability and accessibility of tobacco products, and limiting marketing and advertising of tobacco products.
Oklahoma’s youth have continued to try new products at alarming rates, remaining above the national average in many tobacco use categories. Youth are more sensitive to nicotine than adults and early exposure can lead to an increased risk of nicotine addiction. The current tobacco industry marketing tactics appeal to youth by offering a variety of flavors and using social media to deliver pro e-cigarette imagery and messaging. Consequently, youth are obtaining tobacco products from social sources, online, or in-person from retailers who are not in compliance with state or federal law.
State tobacco control policies are essential for implementing policy and environmental interventions that impact youth access.
From a public health strategy perspective, reducing the number of tobacco retail outlets and the amount of tobacco advertising/promotion can prevent youth from ever starting and impact the health of future generations. Additionally, interventions such as community education, merchant education (in conjunction with enforcement), incentives for merchant compliance, and firmer tobacco retailer licensing structures should be considered.
The Oklahoma State Department of Health is committed to educating retailers and working with various partners and local civic leaders to help prevent youth from becoming regular tobacco or e-cigarette users.
HB 2165 – Requires underage users to complete an education or tobacco use cessation program approved by the court. If the violator fails to complete the court-ordered program, they can be fined. To ensure all programs and court orders are followed, the court will have jurisdiction over the violator for 12 months.
Nearly 80% of adult smokers begin smoking by the age of 18; 90% do so before the age of 21. Preventing youth access to tobacco is a powerful way to counteract tobacco use.
The minimum legal age for tobacco sales is 21. Federal and state law prohibits retailers from selling tobacco to anyone under 21. Because Oklahoma’s youth use tobacco products at a rate higher than the national average, the Oklahoma Tobacco Prevention and Control Program (OTPC) created an education campaign aimed at the point of sale to prevent sales to Oklahoma youth.
ValidateOK.com is a retailer training program created by a multidisciplinary panel of experts to impact the point of sale. It includes modules designed to train retail staff on the T21 law and provide information on properly verifying a consumer's age by checking their ID. Upon program completion, a certificate is shared demonstrating the clerk's readiness to comply. OTPC, alongside other government agencies and community partners, distributes Validate materials directly to retailers.
- Increase the number of jurisdictions with an enabling ordinance increasing the age ofpurchase of a tobacco product to 21.
- Increase the number of jurisdictions with a zoning ordinance prohibiting sales near youth-populated areas.
- Advance tobacco-free policies and reduce the social acceptability of tobacco use among Oklahomans.
- Strengthen public and private policies to counter tobacco industry marketing tactics to reduce marketing to young adults.
- Enact key public policy measures to increase the prices on tobacco products.
- Reduce youth access to tobacco by ensuring compliance with the law by coordinating retailer compliance inspections.
- Continue to promote retailer education via Validateok.com.
- Leverage resources to support the continued evaluation of the tobacco purchase, use, or possession laws to increase retail environment accountability measures.
- Encourage the proposal of comprehensive tobacco retailer licensing to include e-cigarette licensing.
- Educate the public about the sale of flavored tobacco products, including menthol.
Contact Information
Mailing Address:
Oklahoma State Department of Health
Community Development Services
123 Robert S. Kerr Ave., Suite 1702
Oklahoma City, OK 73102-6406
Physical Address:
Oklahoma State Department of Health
Community Development Services
123 Robert S. Kerr Ave.
Oklahoma City, OK
Phone: (405) 426-8300
Fax: (405) 900-7610
Email: OSDH.TobaccoPrevention@health.ok.gov
