FFY 2013 ANNUAL SYNAR REPORTS

TOBACCO SALES TO YOUTH

Behavioral Health Is Essential To Health • Prevention Works • Treatment Is Effective • People Recover

IN BRIEF 

• The national weighted average

rate of tobacco sales to minors as

reported by states and the District of

Columbia in their FFY 2013 Annual

Synar Reports is 9.6 percent. This

represents an increase in the retailer

violation rate (RVR) from FFY

2012, when the national rate was 9.1

percent.

• Between FFYs 2012 and 2013, the

number of states reporting RVRs

below 5 percent increased from

nine to ten. However, the number

of states reporting RVRs below 10

percent decreased from 34 to 30.

• FFY 2013 is the eighth year in Synar

history in which the Secretary found

no state out of compliance with the

Synar requirements.

OVERVIEW OF THE PROBLEM 

AND THE SOLUTIONS

Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death and disease in 

the United States, with 480,000 deaths annually attributed to smoking 

or exposure to secondhand smoke (USDHHS, 2014). Nearly all 

tobacco use begins during youth and young adulthood. In fact, 

according to data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health 

Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) National Survey on Drug Use 

and Health, 88 percent of adults who have ever smoked daily report 

that they first smoked by the age of 18 (USDHHS, 2012). 

For this reason, it is critically important to prevent youth from initiating 

tobacco use. According to the 2012 Surgeon General’s report on 

preventing tobacco use among youth and young adults, the good news 

is that there are many things that can be done to prevent tobacco use by 

youth and young adults, including:

• Creating a world where seeing people smoke or use other tobacco

products is the exception, not the norm;

• Taking steps that make it harder for youth to use tobacco, such as

raising cigarette prices and enforcing laws that prohibit the sale of

tobacco to children;

• Further limiting tobacco marketing that is likely to be seen by young

people;

• Limiting youth exposure to smoking in movies and other media; and

• Educating young people and helping them make healthy choices

(CDC 2012).

THE SYNAR AMENDMENT

In July 1992, Congress enacted the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental 

Health Administration Reorganization Act (P.L. 102-321), which 

includes the Synar Amendment (section 1926) aimed at decreasing 

youth access to tobacco. This amendment requires states to enact 

and enforce laws prohibiting the sale or distribution of tobacco 

products to individuals under 18 years old. To determine compliance 
2

with the legislation, the amendment requires each state and 

U.S. jurisdiction to conduct annual, random, unannounced 

inspections of retail tobacco outlets and to report the 

findings to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health 

and Human Services (HHS). States that do not comply with 

the requirements set forth in the Amendment are subject 

to a penalty of 40 percent of their federal Substance Abuse 

Prevention and Treatment Block Grant (SABG) funding.

THE SYNAR REGULATION

Because it plays a lead role in substance abuse prevention, 

SAMHSA was charged with implementing the Synar 

Amendment. In January 1996, SAMHSA issued the Synar 

Regulation to provide guidance to the states. The regulation 

stipulates that to comply with the Synar Amendment, each state 

must have in effect a law prohibiting any manufacturer, retailer, or 

distributor of tobacco products from selling or distributing such 

products to any individual under age 18. States also must:

• Enforce such laws to a degree that can reasonably be 

expected to reduce the illegal sale of tobacco products to 

individuals under age 18.

• Develop a strategy and negotiate a timeframe with 

SAMHSA for achieving a RVR of 20 percent or less by 

federal fiscal year (FFY) 2003 (+/- 3 percent margin of 

error allowed for states that conduct a sample).

• Conduct annual, random, unannounced inspections of 

over-the-counter tobacco outlets 

and vending machines to ensure 

compliance with the law. These 

inspections are to be conducted 

in such a way as to provide a 

valid sample of outlets accessible 

to youth.

• Submit an annual report that 

details the actions undertaken 

by the state to enforce its law 

and includes information on 

the overall success the state has 

achieved during the previous FFY 

in reducing tobacco availability 

to youth, the methods used to 

identify outlets, its inspection 

procedures, and its plans for 

enforcing the law in the next FFY.

States measure their progress in reducing youth access to tobacco 

via annual, random, unannounced inspections (also known as 

the Synar survey). SAMHSA, through its Center for Substance 

Abuse Prevention (CSAP), Division of State Programs, annually 

reviews each state’s Synar survey results, and provides technical 

assistance to help states comply with the requirements.

MAJOR FINDINGS 

In FFY 1997, the first year for which states reported Synar 

data, the national weighted average RVR was 40.1 percent. 

Major findings for FFY 2013 include: 

• The national weighted average rate of tobacco sales to 

minors as reported by states and the District of Columbia 

in their FFY 2013 Annual Synar Reports is 9.6 percent 

(Figure 1). This represents an increase in the RVR from 

FFY 2012, when the national rate was 9.1 percent. 

• FFY 2013 is the eighth year in Synar history in which the 

Secretary found no state out of compliance with the Synar 

regulation. 

• In FFY 2013, 47 of the 50 states and DC achieved an 

RVR below 15.0 percent (unchanged from 47 states in 

FFY 2012), and 30 of the 51 achieved an RVR below 10.0 

percent (down from 34 states in FFY 2012). Additionally, 

10 of the 51 achieved an RVR below 5.0 percent (up from 9 

states in FFY 2012).

Figure 1. The National Weighted Average 

Retailer Violation Rate Since 1997

National Weighted Average

 Retailer Violation Rate (%)

40.1

25.4

20.5 20.0

17.5 16.3

14.1 12.8 11.6 10.8 10.5 9.9 10.9

9.3 8.5

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

9.1 9.6

Federal Fiscal Year
3

FFY 2013 YOUTH TOBACCO SALES

UPWARD TREND IN 

RETAILER VIOLATION RATES

OBSERVED IN FFY 2013

Data reported by the states in the 12-year period from FFY 

1997 through FFY 2008 (Table 1) indicated a clear downward 

trend in RVRs associated with implementation of the Synar 

Regulation. However, for the first time in the history of the 

Synar program, the average weighted RVR increased between 

FFY 2008 and FFY 2009. This trend reversed in FFY 2010 

and the RVR continued to decline in FFY 2011, when the 

average weighted RVR decreased to its lowest point ever. 

However, in FFY 2012, the average weighted RVR again 

increased from the previous year. This upward trend continued

in FFY 2013. 

There are several potential reasons for the increase. First, one 

of the greatest predictors of a state’s RVR is the amount and 

reach of a state’s youth tobacco access enforcement efforts. 

Specifically, states that have consistent statewide enforcement 

of youth tobacco access laws in which every tobacco retailer in 

the state is inspected by law enforcement at least once every year 

to determine their compliance with access laws, and retailers 

found in violation of the law receive monetary penalties, tend 

to have much lower RVRs than states without such rigorous 

enforcement programs. As states have faced budget shortfalls, 

some have scaled back on their enforcement programs and this 

may be contributing to the increase in the rate of tobacco sales 

to youth. Additionally, under the Synar program, SAMHSA 

encourages states to include in their inspections the types of 

tobacco products most often used by youth in their states. As 

states have expanded the types of tobacco products included 

in their Synar inspections, some states have found that retailers 

are sometimes more likely to sell non-cigarette tobacco 

products, including smokeless tobacco, to youth. This may have 

contributed to the increase in the tobacco sales violation rate 

in some states that added these other tobacco products to their 

Table 1. Comparison of Reported Retailer Violation Rates for FFYs 1997–2013

Fiscal

Year

Highest 

Reported Rate

Lowest 

Reported Rate

Weighted 

Average Rate

1997 72.7% 7.2% 40.1%

1998 58.8% 5.5% 25.4%

1999 46.9% 4.1% 20.5%

2000 55.8% 6.3% 20.0%

2001 36.0% 6.0% 17.5%

2002 33.7% 4.5% 16.3%

2003 30.2% 5.4% 14.1%

2004 41.9% 3.9% 12.8%

2005 38.0% 0.9% 11.6%

2006 19.2% 2.2% 10.8%

2007 22.7% 3.2% 10.5%

2008 17.0% 4.1% 9.9%

2009 18.8% 1.6% 10.9%

2010 16.8% 2.2% 9.3%

2011 19.3% 1.1% 8.5%

2012 17.9% 1.8% 9.1%

2013 22.5 % 1.0% 9.6%
4

Synar inspections. Finally, in 2013, the Department of Labor 

ruled that employing 15-year-old youth to do inspections is a 

violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Since older youth are 

more likely to be sold to, this may have also contributed to the 

increase in the average RVR. 

Research suggests that for youth tobacco access efforts to 

demonstrate a reduction in youth tobacco use, the retailer 

violation rate must be below 10 percent (Jason, 1991; Forster, 

1998; DiFranza, 1999). While the national weighted retailer 

violation rate is below this target, the number of states reporting 

RVRs below 10 percent has decreased, which is a concern. 

ASSOCIATED REDUCTIONS 

IN YOUTH SMOKERS 

REPORTING RETAIL 

PURCHASES AND YOUTH 

SMOKING

The Synar program has also contributed to a decline in the 

percentage of youth smokers who report retail sources as 

their usual source of tobacco products, although the decline 

has leveled off in recent years. According to the Youth Risk 

Behavior Survey (YRBS), in 1995, 38.7 percent of students 

under the age of 18 who were current smokers reported that 

they usually got their own cigarettes by buying them in a store 

or gas station (Figure 2). In 2013, the rate had fallen to 18.1 

percent. This represents an increase from 2011, when the rate 

was 14.0 percent. 

Over the same time period, cigarette use among youth 

declined (see Figure 3 on page 6). According to YRBS, 

the percentage of students reporting current cigarette use 

dropped from 34.8 percent in 1995 to 15.7 percent in 2013. 

The prevalence of current cigarette use significantly decreased 

from 1997–2013. The 2013 rate is the lowest ever recorded 

since the YRBS began in 1991 (CDC, 2014).

ALL 50 STATES AND DC 

ACHIEVED THE OVERALL 

SYNAR GOAL

Between FFY 1997 and FFY 2002, all states and U.S. 

jurisdictions were legislatively required to negotiate with 

SAMHSA individual RVR targets in order to be found in 

compliance with the Synar regulation. Since FFY 2003, all 

states and U.S. jurisdictions have been required to meet the 

federally established RVR target of 20 percent (+/- 3 percent 

margin of error allowed for states that conduct a sample). 

Figure 2. Current Youth Smokers Who Purchased 

Tobacco Products in a Store or Gas Station

Year

Percentage

38.7

29.8

23.5

19.0 18.8

15.2 16.0 14.1 14.0

18.1

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013
5

FFY 2013 YOUTH TOBACCO SALES

Table 2. Synar Retailer Violation Rates (FFY 2013)

State Name Target Reported

Alabama 20.0% 8.2%

Alaska 20.0% 7.3%

Arizona 20.0% 5.8%

Arkansas 20.0% 3.3%

California 20.0% 8.7%

Colorado 20.0% 9.1%

Connecticut 20.0% 12.1%

Delaware 20.0% 9.5%

District of Columbia 20.0% 8.6%

Florida 20.0% 13.8%

Georgia 20.0% 10.0%

Hawaii 20.0% 4.2%

Idaho 20.0% 7.5%

Illinois 20.0% 11.4%

Indiana 20.0% 7.0%

Iowa 20.0% 7.5%

Kansas 20.0% 3.1%

Kentucky 20.0% 5.6%

Louisiana 20.0% 8.8%

Maine 20.0% 2.7%

Maryland 20.0% 16.8%

Massachusetts 20.0% 12.3%

Michigan 20.0% 10.7%

Minnesota 20.0% 1.0%

Mississippi 20.0% 3.6%

Missouri 20.0% 10.4%

State Name Target Reported

Montana 20.0% 3.2%

Nebraska 20.0% 14.0%

Nevada 20.0% 1.0%

New Hampshire 20.0% 11.9%

New Jersey 20.0% 7.7%

New Mexico 20.0% 7.9%

New York 20.0% 4.8%

North Carolina 20.0% 13.5%

North Dakota 20.0% 9.3%

Ohio 20.0% 16.6%

Oklahoma 20.0% 8.4%

Oregon 20.0% 22.5%

Pennsylvania 20.0% 9.5%

Rhode Island 20.0% 11.3%

South Carolina 20.0% 11.7%

South Dakota 20.0% 3.6%

Tennessee 20.0% 13.7%

Texas 20.0% 7.6%

Utah 20.0% 5.3%

Vermont 20.0% 10.2%

Virginia 20.0% 13.5%

Washington 20.0% 15.6%

West Virginia 20.0% 13.5%

Wisconsin 20.0% 5.4%

Wyoming 20.0% 14.4%

FFY 2006 was the first year that all states and DC were found 

in compliance with all Synar regulatory requirements, and this 

accomplishment has been achieved each year since, through 

FFY 2013 (Table 2). 

The state RVRs in Table 2 were determined by the results 

of a series of random, unannounced compliance checks of 

tobacco retailers conducted by each state during the period 

from October 1, 2011, to September 30, 2012. These rates 

represent the percentage of inspected retail outlets that sold 

tobacco products to an inspector under 18 years old. The 

national weighted average was computed by weighting each 

state’s reported RVR by that state’s population.

THE U.S. JURISDICTIONS

Section 212 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2010 

H.R. 3288 (P.L. 111-117) contains language that prevents 

the Secretary of HHS from withholding substance abuse 

prevention funds, pursuant to section 1926, from a U.S. 

jurisdiction that receives less than $1 million in SABG funds, 

and that fails to meet the required 20-percent noncompliance 
6

Figure 3. Students Reporting Current Cigarette Use

Year

Percentage

34.8 36.4 34.8

28.5

21.9 23.0

20.0 19.5 18.1 15.7

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 2011 2013

rate. This provision applies to the following U.S. jurisdictions: 

the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the Republic 

of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, 

the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and 

Palau. This provision does not apply to the District of 

Columbia and Puerto Rico, which both received more than $1 

million in SABG funds in FFY 2013.

While SAMHSA is prohibited from withholding substance 

abuse funds from jurisdictions that do not comply with the 

Synar regulatory requirements, SAMHSA maintains oversight 

of Synar program development in all U.S. jurisdictions, 

including visits for program review and enhancement. 

This support has enabled the U.S. jurisdictions to develop 

effective youth tobacco access control programming and to 

demonstrate significant progress in reducing youth access 

to tobacco. Despite the challenges posed by their special 

circumstances, five jurisdictions that receive less than $1 

million in SABG funds met the FFY 2013 Synar regulatory 

requirements; including both meeting an RVR of 20 percent 

or less and enforcing youth tobacco access laws. These 

jurisdictions are American Samoa, the Commonwealth of 

the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, the Republic of the 

Marshall Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands (see Table 3 on 

page 7).

COMPREHENSIVE 

STRATEGIES ARE MOST 

EFFECTIVE

In its oversight of state Synar youth tobacco access control 

programs over the past 17 years, SAMHSA has observed 

that states reporting low retailer violation rates share multiple 

characteristics. Throughout the history of the Synar program, 

SAMHSA has found that states that plan youth tobacco 

access interventions that have multiple components, using 

several strategies, tend to report the lowest retailer violation 

rates. Specifically, when efforts to control youth access have 

been multifaceted and have involved various sectors of the 

community, larger reductions in sales to minors have been 

achieved than when a single intervention was used.

SAMHSA/CSAP strongly recommends that states employ 

multiple strategies in their efforts to reduce youth access to 

tobacco products, including:

• policy and regulatory approaches, including enacting and 

enforcing tobacco license laws;

• actively enforcing youth access laws in a consistent manner 

statewide;
7

FFY 2013 YOUTH TOBACCO SALES

Table 3. Synar Retailer Violation Rates for the U.S. Jurisdictions (FFY 2013)

Jurisdiction Name Target Reported

American Samoa 20.0% 0.55%

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands 20.0% 6.9%

Federated States of Micronesia 20.0% 14.8%

Guam 20.0% 6.9%

Palau 20.0% 20.2%

Puerto Rico 20.0% 9.2%

Republic of the Marshall Islands 20.0% 18.7%

U.S. Virgin Islands 20.0% 13.3%

• providing merchant education to all retailers in a variety of 

languages and in a variety of formats, including in-person, 

print, and online;

• engaging coalition members and prevention providers to 

conduct non-enforcement compliance checks of tobacco 

retailers in which compliant retailers are rewarded and noncompliant retailers are warned about the law; 

• partnering with the state public health agency to ensure 

that youth tobacco access strategies are part of the state’s 

comprehensive tobacco control plan; and

• coordinating with the state agency receiving the Food and 

Drug Administration’s (FDA) state enforcement contract 

to ensure efficient resource utilization for the enforcement 

of youth tobacco access laws. More information about 

coordination between the Synar program and the FDA’s state 

enforcement contracts can be found in the document “A 

Strategic Partnership: FDA’s State Enforcement Contracts 

and the Synar Program,” at http://www.fda.gov/downloads/

TobaccoProducts/NewsEvents/UCM284343.pdf.

CONCLUSION

The results of the random, unannounced inspections required 

by the Synar Amendment and its implementing regulation 

show that states have made significant progress in enforcing 

youth tobacco access laws and in reducing the percentage 

of retailers who sell tobacco products to minors. While the 

national weighted average RVR has dramatically fallen since 

the inception of the Synar program, the rate has increased 

over the past two years.

SAMHSA/CSAP is working with states to address this issue 

and plans to continue to provide extensive technical assistance 

to the states to assist them in implementing comprehensive 

strategies to reduce youth access to tobacco products, with 

the ultimate goal of reducing youth tobacco use. 
8

REFERENCES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2013). Youth 

Risk Behavior Survey. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/

yrbs [accessed on 2014 June 12]. 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2012). Preventing 

Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults: We CAN Make 

the Next Generation Tobacco-Free. Available at: http://www.

cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/2012/consumer_

booklet/pdfs/consumer.pdf [accessed on 2014 June 5].

DiFranza, J. R. (1999). Are the Federal and State governments 

complying with the Synar Amendment? Arch. Pediatr. 

Adolesc. Med., 153(10):1089–1097.

Forster, J. L., Murray, D. M., Wolfson, M., Blaine, T. M., 

Wagenaar, A. C., Hennrikus, D. J. (1998). The effects of 

community policies to reduce youth access to tobacco. 

AM J Public Health, 88:1193-1198.

Jason, L. A., Ji, P. Y., Anes, M. D., Birkhead, S. H. (1991). 

Active enforcement of cigarette control laws in the 

prevention of cigarette sales to minors. JAMA, 266:3159-

3161.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2014). 

The Health Consequences of Smoking—50 Years of Progress: 

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for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 

Office on Smoking and Health.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2012). 

Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults: 

A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. 

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Office on Smoking and Health.