Albany, N.Y. ? Walgreen Co. has agreed to use registers that will prompt cashiers to check ID for cigarette sales.

The company has also agreed to pay $320,000 to 40 states to cover the cost of a probe that found the drugstore giant failed to card minors 11 out of 12 times.

The Deerfield, Ill.-based company agreed to the changes and payments after undercover sting operations led by state Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer.

From April to June 2000, Spitzer’s office conducted undercover investigations in more than 20 cities in upstate New York. About 47 percent of 170 attempted buys resulted in the sale of cigarettes to minors.

Walgreen also agreed to implement a training program for employees.

Attorneys general from Arizona, California and Iowa helped negotiate the agreement, while 36 other states joined in the investigation because they were seeking similar enforcement in their states.