Alcohol, Tobacco Compliance Slips As Checks Resume In Washington

More alcohol and tobacco vendors are failing age-verification checks since they resumed in May, while Cannabis shops saw improvement.

In the months since Washington's Liquor and Cannabis Board resumed compliance checks, state officials have announced that more alcohol and tobacco vendors are failing to verify buyers are of age. The board resumed its random checks in May after pausing them for a year due to the pandemic. The LCB said its initial findings showed "mixed results" from its licensees, with the biggest dip among tobacco vendors

Age-verification checks show some industries lagging in compliance

Tobacco sales
- Overall compliance rates dropped from 90 percent in 2019 to 75 percent in June 2021.
Alcohol sales
- Overall compliance rates dipped from 85 percent in 2019 to 75 percent in June 2021.
Cannabis sales

Overall compliance rates improved from 95 percent in 2019 to 96 percent in June 2021.

Minor Decliner can help so much on this. It pains me to continue to see this type of reporting! I'm going to reach out to Washington's Liquor and Cannabis Board to see what we can do to help !