Retail sales of tobacco products to people under 18 are at the lowest level they have been in years, says a report being released today by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

The national rate of tobacco sales to minors for fiscal 2008 was 9.9%, compared with 16.3% in 2002 and 40.1% in 1997. The report also indicates that for the third year in a row, all 50 states and the District of Columbia are in compliance with the Synar Amendment, a federal regulation that aims to reduce young people's access to tobacco by requiring states to implement laws and other programs that limit the sale of tobacco to minors.