Three of 16 North Platte retailers checked for compliance with ensuring no sales of tobacco products to minors failed the check, giving a rate of 81 percent compliance with the law prohibiting sales to minors, according to the North Platte Telegraph.

An earlier check in April also netted three violations, according to the Telegraph.

Based on solid research findings, as noted by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids in a fact sheet on enforcing laws prohibiting sales of cigarettes to minors, state attorneys general and other experts have recommended that any effort to reduce youth access to tobacco products include the following key elements:

• Designating an agency with clear responsibility for enforcement
• Providing adequate, guaranteed funding for enforcement
  
• Making frequent and realistic compliance checks, with a goal of sustained 95 percent compliance
  
• Meaningful penalties including graduated fines and ultimately, prohibiting sales of tobacco products
  
• No preemption of local ordinances
  
• Education and awareness efforts for merchants and the public.
  

The compliance checks in North Platte are funded with help from a grant awarded to Community Connections of North Platte by Nebraska Health and Human Services System/Tobacco Free Nebraska as a result of the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement.

The North Platte stores that were found to be in compliance were:

The Bottle Shop, Walgreens, Minnow Bucket, Cenex at 3002 South Jeffers, Pump and Pantry, Love's Truck Stop, The Gas Stop, Tobacco Road, Big Red Liquors, Casey's at 1401 East Fourth, Caseys at 2421 Rodeo Road, Sandhills Liquor Store, The Barn Store, Kwik Stop locations at 1421 South Dewey Street, 1402 Rodeo Road and 902 North Jeffers, City Discount Liquors and Amoco at 11th and Jeffers Streets.

"We want to applaud the stores and simply say thank you for doing their part in keeping tobacco away from our kids," Community Connections Executive Director Jayna Schaaf told the Telegraph.

About 85 percent of businesses checked in Box Butte and Dawes counties did not sell tobacco products to youth, as reported by the Hemingford Ledger.

The checks were made in April 2011 in Hemingford and Alliance by the Nebraska State Patrol. 

Five out of 33 -- or 15 percent-- of the businesses checked in the first quarter sold tobacco products to minors. The legal age to purchase tobacco in Nebraska is 18. 

A national report released last month by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) which sponsors the Synar program shows that the average national retailer violation rate of tobacco sales is down to 9.3 percent — the lowest level in the 14 year history of the program.
 
The Synar Amendment (introduced by the late Representative Mike Synar of Oklahoma and enacted as Section 1926 of the federal Public Health Service Act) requires states and U.S. jurisdictions to have laws and enforcement programs for prohibiting the sale and distribution of tobacco to persons under 18. The program is part of SAMHSA’s strategic initiative on preventing substance abuse and mental illness.
 
Under the regulation implementing the Synar Amendment, states and U.S. jurisdictions must report annually to SAMHSA on their retailer violation rates, which represent the percentage of inspected retail outlets that sold tobacco products to a customer under the age of 18.

The Panhandle Prevention Coalition and the Nebraska State Patrol are partnering to provide tobacco compliance checks throughout the Nebraska panhandle region.