Sale of tobacco products; tobacco substitutes; tobacco paraphernalia; requirements; prohibitions
(Added 1991, No. 70, § 2, eff. May 1, 1992; amended 1997, No. 58, § 3; 1999, No. 89 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 2001, No. 108 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 15, 2002; 2011, No. 166 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 2013, No. 14, § 3; 2015, No. 108 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 2017; 2017, No. 83, § 133; 2019, No. 27, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2019.)
- (a) A person shall not sell or provide tobacco products, tobacco substitutes, or tobacco paraphernalia to any person under 21 years of age.
- (b) All vending machines selling tobacco products are prohibited.
(c) (1) Persons holding a tobacco license may only display or store tobacco products or tobacco substitutes:
- (A) behind a sales counter or in any other area of the establishment that is inaccessible to the public; or
- (B) in a locked container.
(2) This subsection shall not apply to the following:
- (A) a display of tobacco products that is located in a commercial establishment in which by law no person under 21 years of age is permitted to enter at any time;
- (B) cigarettes in unopened cartons and smokeless tobacco in unopened multipack containers of 10 or more packages, any of which shall be displayed in plain view and under the control of a responsible employee so that removal of the cartons or multipacks from the display can be readily observed by that employee; or
- (C) cigars and pipe tobacco stored in a humidor on the sales counter in plain view and under the control of a responsible employee so that the removal of these products from the humidor can be readily observed by that employee.
- (d) The sale and the purchase of bidis is prohibited. A person who holds a tobacco license who sells bidis as prohibited by this subsection shall be fined not more than $500.00. A person who purchases bidis from any source shall be fined not more than $250.00.
- (e) No person holding a tobacco license shall sell cigarettes or little cigars individually or in packs that contain fewer than 20 cigarettes or little cigars.
- (f) As used in this section, “little cigars” means any rolls of tobacco wrapped in leaf tobacco or any substance containing tobacco, other than any roll of tobacco that is a cigarette within the meaning of 32 V.S.A. § 7702(1), and as to which 1,000 units weigh not more than three pounds.
(Added 1991, No. 70, § 2, eff. May 1, 1992; amended 1997, No. 58, § 3; 1999, No. 89 (Adj. Sess.), § 2; 2001, No. 108 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. May 15, 2002; 2011, No. 166 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 2013, No. 14, § 3; 2015, No. 108 (Adj. Sess.), § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 2017; 2017, No. 83, § 133; 2019, No. 27, § 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2019.)