7-Eleven Announces Move to Prevent Underage Purchases of Tobacco, Potential Inhalants

7-Eleven has announced it will launch a new technology that will scan the code on the back of a customer’s driver license or identification card, in a move to prevent minors from purchasing alcohol, tobacco, potential inhalants and lottery tickets.

The scan will verify a customer’s birth date, but will not store any other information, NBC Washington reports.

The company introduced its “Come of Age” program in 1984, which targeted illegal sale of alcohol to minors, after-hour sales, sales made on behalf of a minor, and drinking alcohol on store premises, the news report notes. The program was expanded in 1994 to include all age-restricted products.

“We believe that this new system takes compliance at 7-Eleven to the next level,” Keith Jones, 7-Eleven’s Senior Director of Government Affairs, said in a news release.