Three DeKalb tobacco retailers caught selling tobacco to minors in recent compliance check

DeKALB – Out of a total of 36 tobacco retailers in DeKalb, three were caught illegally selling tobacco to minors in a recent DeKalb Police Department compliance check.

The three businesses that were in violation of an ordinance prohibiting the sale of tobacco to customers younger than 21 years old were Casey’s at 1001 N. Annie Glidden Road, 7-Eleven at 930 N. Annie Glidden Road, and The Smoke Shop at 818 W. Lincoln Highway, according to a news release from the DeKalb Police Department Wednesday. The compliance check occurred on May 29, according to police.

Police said they perform the compliance checks to determine if local tobacco retailers are complying with 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 City of DeKalb has been educating 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,” police announced in Wednesday’s statement. “Tobacco retailers were each given an information kit and spoken with by a police department employee.”

According to Illinois state law, tobacco sellers can be fined up to $800 if they are caught selling to customers younger than 21 years old four or more times in a two-year period. The least they can be fined is $200 for one offense.

Per DeKalb’s municipal code, retailers can be charged between $350 and $750 for each violation.