The Iowa Alcholic Beverages Division is examining the compliance rate of chain stores in Iowa when to comes to not selling tobacco to minors. Division Administrator Lynn Walding says Iowa had a 93-percent compliance rate last year, but there were some weak areas. He says some of the major retail outlets fell back in their compliance and he says they wanted to analyze why that happened. He says it’s important to have the chain stores in line. He says they focus on the chain stores because you can make an impact because of the number of stores they have selling tobacco. Walding says they just want to be sure the state doesn’t fall back on its effort. He says the retailers have definitely improved, and he says the division’s goal is to continue with a 90-percent or better compliance rate. The division conducts the checks throughout the year at the retailers across the state.
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