The Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office is joining the I-PLEDGE program to keep tobacco, alternative nicotine and vapor products away from underage Guthrie County individuals.

The program is a partnership with the Iowa Alcoholic Beverages Division (ABD) to educate local retailers and enforce Iowa’s laws concerning the purchase of tobacco, alternative nicotine and vapor products.

Deputies will be conducting compliance checks at county businesses as underage customers attempt to buy the products. Clerks who make illegal sales will receive an immediate fine. 

Sheriff Marty Arganbright hopes the program will maintain a compliant community to keep these products out of the hands of underage users.

The I-PLEDGE program was put into place in 2000, and since its inception, the statewide compliance rate of businesses has grown to 95-percent.