BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Data analyzed by Prevention Insights at the Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington showed that tobacco product sales to underage youth assisting with Synar tobacco retailer inspections hit a 12-year low in Indiana last year. In 2025, the retailer violation rate was 10.5%, the lowest violation rate since 2013, and down considerably from the 2024 violation rate of 14.5%.
Indiana's Synar Program is a collaboration between the Alcohol and Tobacco Commission (ATC), the Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addiction (DMHA), and Prevention Insights. Synar inspections are completed annually as part of the Indiana State Excise Police's Tobacco Compliance Check program while Prevention Insights provides statistical and logistical support before and after the inspections and assists with preparation of the final report.
Tobacco products requested during Synar inspections include cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, small cigars, and nicotine vaping devices and liquids. Cigarettes were sold on 7.1% of attempted purchases and cigars were sold on 12.2% of attempts. Both rates are lower than their 2024 violation rates of 15.4% for cigarettes and 16.5% for cigars.
In Indiana, it is illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone under 21-years-old and retailers must request photo identification from anyone appearing to be under 30-years-old. The retailer violation rate was significantly lower when the clerk requested photo identification from the youth. The violation rate when identification was requested was only 1.59% as opposed to 88.89% when identification was not requested.
For more information on tobacco control efforts in Indiana, please visit go.iu.edu/XT5r8C
To view the current Synar report, please visit https://bit.ly/3NnlWa6
***The Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration Reorganization Act, passed in July 1992, included the Synar Amendment which required states to enact and enforce laws prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to individuals under 18, later increased to 21. The amendment was sponsored by and named for former Oklahoma Congressional Representative Michael Synar. In January 1996, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) issued the Synar regulation, which provides compliance guidance and requires states to conduct annual, unannounced inspections of tobacco retailers and achieve a retailer violation rate lower than 20% or risk losing up to 10% of its Substance Use Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery Services Block Grant.