Salem Police say one of the city’s 14 tobacco retailers sold to a minor during a recent compliance check.
Police say the Spirit Shoppe sold to an underage person used to test the businesses. Clerk Steven Schoonover of Salem was given a city ordinance violation for the sale of tobacco to a minor.
The compliance checks are performed to determine if local tobacco retailers are complying with state and local minimum-age tobacco laws, which prohibit the sale of tobacco to minors. With the help from a grant awarded by the Illinois Liquor Control Commission’s ‘Kids Can’t Buy ‘Em Here’ Tobacco Enforcement Program, the Salem Police Department has educated tobacco retailers on minimum-age tobacco laws and the importance of verifying the age of their customers while conducting compliance checks of area tobacco retailers.
The December 19th inspection was the first of three rounds of compliance checks on all tobacco retailers on December 19th, 2023.
