LJWorld.com

The young man breezed into Round Corner Drug, flashed an I.D. and asked clerk Vanessa Englebert for a pack of smokes.

But the whole thing was a set-up. The kid was too young.

"She denied him," store owner Tom Wilcox said. "I was quite proud of her."

The young, would-be customer was a local volunteer, helping DCCCA Inc. Regional Prevention Center with a statewide program meant to show cigarette retailers that selling to minors has its consequences.

The program, called Reward and Reminder, has hit 63 local stores to date this year, with 45, including Round Corner Drug, refusing and 18 offering to sell.

The intention, said prevention specialist Chrissy Mayer, was to alert store owners and managers to the possibility that their clerks are selling smokes to minors.

"This program is not out to get anyone," Mayer said. "This is a positive thing."

Mayer said that although many retailers have denied the 15- to 17- year-old volunteers cigarettes, some stores need a reminder - especially stores employing younger clerks who may not be experienced at checking I.D.s.

Wilcox said Round Corner employs some temporary workers, most of them KU students such as Englebert.

"That's just part of the business," he said.

He also said he understood the need to comply with underage sales laws.

Not only are local fines and court fees expensive, but the state has lost millions in federal grant money after fewer than 80 percent of cigarette retailers refused to sell to minors last year.

A law called the Federal Synar Regulation mandates fines for states that don't reach the 80 percent compliance mark. Last year, Kansas was the only state that failed to reach the 80 percent compliance mark.

According to federal data, 38 percent of Kansas retailers sold cigarettes to minors in fiscal year 2005.

"That's why we're doing all of this programming," Mayer said.

The Reward and Reminder program will visit stores twice this year - once this month, and once in July - to get clerks and owners prepared for visits from the real enforcers, the Kansas Alcoholic Beverage Control, later this summer.

An official with ABC said they had not started their enforcement measures in Lawrence yet.

When visiting the stores, the under-age volunteers handed out $5 bills and cards congratulating clerks if they refused to sell them cigarettes. Clerks who began a sale were handed "Bad News" cards explaining the laws that ban cigarette sales to minors.

The minors did not actually buy the cigarettes, even if the clerks began a sale, Mayer said.

After the first visit, Mayer said, the prevention center will send letters to the stores explaining the program and giving them a heads up for future visits.

The program, now only in Douglas County, will expand into Franklin and Atchison counties this summer.