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Committee approves licensing regime to curb youth access to nicotine products; creates ABC tobacco division
Summary
Senate Bill 100 would create a tobacco, nicotine, and vapor product licensing division within the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, require retailer licensure and annual compliance checks, and impose escalating criminal and civil penalties for unlicensed sales and sales to underage buyers.
The Senate Standing Committee on Licensing and Occupations voted Tuesday to advance a substitute to Senate Bill 100, which would require all retailers of tobacco, nicotine, and vapor products to obtain an annual license, create enforcement authority within the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC), and establish escalating penalties for violations.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Jimmy Higdon, creates a Division of Tobacco, Nicotine and Vapor Products within ABC, authorizes investigators to inspect premises where such products are manufactured, stored, or sold, and mandates at least one random compliance check per year for every licensed retailer. Sponsors framed the measure as a supply-side approach to reduce youth nicotine access.
Delaney Crump, youth advocate (Delaney): “I’m here not just as a youth advocate, but as a representative of a generation that's being targeted and exploited by an industry that profits from…
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