Washington marijuana retailers continue to prevent sales to underage purchasers at a significantly higher rate than stores selling alcohol or tobacco, according to compliance data through August 2026.
The Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board conducted 308 youth access compliance checks at licensed cannabis retailers during the first seven months of the year. Of those, 285 resulted in no sale, giving cannabis stores a compliance rate of 92.5%.
Alcohol retailers performed considerably worse. Liquor and Cannabis Board officers conducted 1,905 checks at licensed alcohol retailers, with 1,576 resulting in no sale and 329 resulting in a sale. That amounts to a compliance rate of 82.7%.
Tobacco retailers also trailed the marijuana industry. 1,978 Washington tobacco retailer inspection decisions were reported through July. Of those, 1,675 found no violations, while 303 involved sales to underage purchasers, producing a compliance rate of 84.7%.
Put another way, just 7.5% of cannabis compliance checks resulted in an illegal sale, compared with 15.3% of tobacco checks and 17.3% of alcohol checks. The failure rate for marijuana retailers was less than half the rate recorded for either of the other age-restricted industries.
Cannabis stores’ 92.5% compliance rate was 9.8 percentage points higher than the rate for alcohol retailers and 7.9 percentage points higher than the rate for tobacco retailers.
The findings largely continue the pattern seen in 2025. Last year, Washington cannabis retailers passed 93.2% of 528 compliance checks, compared with 78.1% for alcohol retailers and 85.7% for tobacco retailers.
The 2025 tobacco figure came from the Liquor and Cannabis Board’s youth compliance dashboard, while the current 2026 tobacco figure comes from the FDA’s separate inspection database. The state notes that FDA tobacco inspections are not included in its dashboard, meaning the tobacco figures are not a direct year-over-year comparison. Both datasets, however, show cannabis retailers maintaining a considerably higher compliance rate.
The latest results also follow a longer-term trend. From 2015 through 2025, Washington cannabis retailers had an overall youth compliance rate of 94.3%, compared with 86% for tobacco retailers and 80% for alcohol retailers.
The data continues to challenge claims that regulated marijuana markets make it easier for youth to obtain cannabis. In Washington, licensed marijuana stores remain significantly more consistent at preventing underage sales than retailers selling alcohol or tobacco.
Washington voters legalized recreational marijuana in 2012, with the first licensed stores opening in July 2014. Marijuana retailers are subject to strict age-verification requirements, state oversight and potential penalties for selling to anyone younger than 21. The latest compliance figures indicate those requirements continue to produce one of the highest compliance rates among age-restricted industries in the state.
