From Wisconsin Wins and

Southwest Alliance for Tobacco Prevention

To the Editor:

The Wisconsin Wins (WI Wins) program, a state-level initiative aimed to decrease youth access to tobacco products, and the Southwest Alliance for Tobacco Prevention (SWATP) would like to say CONGRATULATIONS to the many clerks and retailers of Green County for your great work on reducing tobacco access to minors. Recently youth volunteers have conducted tobacco compliance checks in hopes to see retailers are not selling tobacco to minors and are checking IDs. In 2022, out of the 26 compliance checks, there was only four sales to minors.

We are so proud of the work being done in Green County- THANK YOU for not selling tobacco to minors! If you are a retailer, and want to train your employees, please check out www.witobaccocheck.org for training and certification!

Underage tobacco use is linked to future substance abuse and behavior problems.  Additionally, with the escalated use of flavored tobacco in cigarettes and vape products all communities need to be aware of the dangers of these addictive products. Many smell, taste, and look just like candy products and are less expensive than more ‘traditional’ tobacco like cigarettes. Tobacco remains the number one cause of preventable deaths in the US causing more than 16 million Americans to suffer from a disease caused by smoking.

As part of our activities, we will continue to educate clerks and retailers about the importance of keeping tobacco out of the hands of youth. For now, when you are out in your community and see a cashier check an ID, thank them for performing their job and keeping our children safe.