Scans categorize county businesses based on tobacco and alcohol advertising

During June Southern High School Youth in Action members and staff from the Garrett County Health Department completed scans of 43 businesses in the county which have tobacco or alcohol licenses.

The scans are a component of an ongoing Responsible Retailer Program, and their purpose is to assess the magnitude of tobacco and alcohol advertisements outside and inside these businesses, as well as the placement of the advertisements. Within the Responsible Retailer Program, tobacco and alcohol retailers are also subject to compliance checks throughout the year to make sure they do not sell alcohol or tobacco to minors. Based on the results of the scans and the compliance checks, the team divided the businesses into three levels – gold, silver, and bronze.

Nineteen out of the 43 businesses received a Gold-Level Retailers designation because they scored in the highest tier on the scale used for the scans and were fully compliant with the checks. The team awarded points for things like having less than 50% of storefront covered by alcohol or tobacco ads, no ads at eye level for children, and visible signs with minimum age requirements for purchase of tobacco or alcohol.

Twelve out of the 43 businesses received a Silver-Level Retailers designation based on their score from the assessment. Like the Gold-Level Retailers, the Silver-Level Retailers were also fully compliant with alcohol and tobacco checks. However, the Silver-Level Retailers were more likely to have advertising that covered more than 50% of their store either inside or outside.

The ten Bronze-Level Retailers scored in the lowest tier on the scale because they failed a compliance check in the previous year or had more than 50% of their store covered in advertising, plus sold marijuana-promoting items such as glass pipes or apparel with images of marijuana leaves.

As a follow-up to the scans, all retailers will receive a card acknowledging their status as a Gold, Silver, or Bronze-Level Retailer and offering suggestions for improvement where applicable. Gold-Level Retailers will also receive signs to hang up that recognize their achievement.

“While I am proud that we have nineteen Gold-Level Retailers in our county,” said Kendra McLaughlin, Director of Health Education for the Garrett County Health Department, “I am especially grateful to the numerous pharmacies we have in our county that made an intentional decision not to sell tobacco in their business.”

The pharmacies that do not sell tobacco received the status of “Substance Abuse Prevention Partner” and will receive magnets and window clings recognizing them as such.

“We are hoping that customers notice the Responsible Retailer designation at these businesses, and thank them for helping to keep Garrett County’s youth safe!” said Sarah Casteel, a summer intern with the health department and coordinator of this year’s scans.

For more information about this or other prevention topics, call Health Education and Outreach at the Garrett County Health Department at 301-334-7730 or 301-895-3111.

Pictured above: Southern High School Youth in Action (YIA) members participated in visits to 43 business in Garrett County to assess alcohol and tobacco advertising and determine what category the business should be assigned.  Pictured from left to right are Sarah Casteel (summer intern at the Garrett County Health Department), and YIA members Alexandra Schofield, Zhou Dong, and Teresa Wolf.

By Diane Lee, Public Information Officer, Garrett County Health Department