What is SYNAR?

In July 1992, Congress enacted the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration Reorganization Act (P.L. 102-321), which includes an amendment (section 1926) aimed at decreasing youth access to tobacco. This amendment, named for its sponsor, Congressman Mike Synar of Oklahoma, requires States and Territories to enact and enforce laws prohibiting the sale and distribution of tobacco products to individuals under the age of 18.

Guam’s Tobacco Control Act of 1998 prohibits the sales or distribution of tobacco products to minors.

In addition, tobacco vendors must obtain a separate tobacco retail license for each premise or vending machine in which tobacco products are sold. The Act also established the Youth Tobacco Education and Prevention Fund (YTEPF) for use by the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse for youth compliance monitoring and tobacco and drug prevention and education programs.

Every year, the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse and the Department of revenue and Taxation, together with various partners, conduct unannounced inspections of all tobacco vendors on Guam, to check their compliance with the law.

Guam’s compliance rate is higher than the standards set by the Federal Government.

Year	Target Compliance Rate	Guam's Compliance Rate
2000	61%	67%
2001	65%	58%
2002	73%	80%
2003	80%	90%
2004	80%	82%
2005	80%	85%
2006	80%	95%
2007	80%	91%
2008	80%	94%

But...

Prohibiting the sales to minors is NOT ENOUGH to reduce tobacco use among young people. We need to focus our efforts also on interventions to reduce the DEMAND for tobacco. And we need to emphasize that regardless of age, tobacco kills.