Eight businesses in Wareham were found to be in violation of state law for selling tobacco products to minors after a compliance check was conducted in November. The Board of Health convened Wednesday, Jan. 17 to hold disciplinary hearings for each store.

The Massachusetts Association of Health Boards, a state-funded non-profit, runs a Tobacco Control Program, which conducts annual compliance checks for all license holders in the state, according to Public Health Director Patrick MacDonald.

MacDonald said the inspectors check for a variety of regulation violations, including signage and free samples, as well as underage sale compliance.

Compliance checks occur twice a year in Wareham in order to complete inspection of all 37 tobacco license holders, according to MacDonald. 

The November compliance check found  some businesses in violation for the first time, while others held a previous record for tobacco violations. 

Cumberland Farms on Depot Street, Pepin’s Liquors and Speedy Mart/Mobile all received their first violation, which will require the businesses to pay a $1,000 fine and a three-day suspension of tobacco sales. 

MacDonald said the state decides the consequences for the violations, but provides a range of days that the board can choose from for the suspension. For example, although the board gave a three-day suspension to businesses with one violation, it could have chosen any amount of days from three to seven. 

Nouria at 2501 Cranberry Highway, Wareham Country Market and the 7/11 on Barker Road were found to have received their second violation. While Nouria and the Country Market received $2,000 fines with seven-day suspensions, the board decided to continue the 7/11 hearing at a later date as the store’s representative was having technical difficulties on the Zoom.

The board also voted on continuations for B2B Gas and Brennan’s Smoke Shop. It is unclear how many violations Brennan’s has as his hearing was postponed due to absence from the meeting. 

B2B received two violations in one day: one for underage sale and one for selling products below the local minimum. 

The minimum pricing was adopted by Wareham to assist in combating underage tobacco sales, according to MacDonald. However, because this is a town specific violation, the board is seeking guidance from the state on whether the two violations count as one as they happened at the same time.

The business has two previous violations already. Those who receive four violations are at risk of completely losing their tobacco license, according to MacDonald. 

He said at this point, the disciplinary meetings are a bit of a “formality” as the board is no longer allowed to issue warnings. The business in violation will receive a fine and suspension each time. 

During the hearings, some of the businesses shared systems and tools they are implementing to help avoid underage sale in the future. One of those systems discussed was a scanner that only allows for tobacco purchases if the customer provides a scannable ID. 

However, this means that military personnel and those who use their passport will not be permitted to buy tobacco because the system can’t process their ID. 

The board will meet with the businesses to discuss dates for the suspension.