Health Education and Outreach

Compliance Checks

Staff from the health department partner with the Garrett County Sheriff’s Office and underage buyers to conduct annual, random, unannounced inspections of tobacco retail outlets as a means of reducing youth access to tobacco. Each tobacco retailer is visited at least once a year, usually twice. Annual compliance rates in Garrett County are almost always above 90%.

To promote compliance with youth access to tobacco laws, staff from the health department provides outreach and education to retailers about the laws. On October 1, 2019, Maryland’s Tobacco 21 law went into effect and increased the legal sales age of tobacco products to 21 years with the exception of active members of the military who are at least 18 years old and who provide valid military ID upon purchase.