Tobacco Retail Issues

Increase enforcement and accountability for tobacco retailers. While current legislation impacts tobacco sales to Nevada’s youth, additional model policy language is necessary to decrease youth access to tobacco.

Increase compliance checks from once every 3 years to annually.
Lengthen time period for repeat violations from 24 months to 36 months.
Increase fines for tobacco licensees for repeat violations.
Include a mechanism to revoke a tobacco retail license for multiple retail sales violations.
Require mandatory training for retail merchants on responsible tobacco sales.

Support community-based education including ID checking, responsible tobacco and electronic vapor product sales, tobacco 21 signage.

Tobacco retailers play an important
role in protecting children.

Selling tobacco to those under 21 in retail settings in Nevada is illegal. Tobacco retailers play an important role in protecting children and adolescents by complying with the law and regulations.

Unfortunately, tobacco retailers have been selling tobacco products to youth (under 21 years) in Nevada, reaching an alarming 30% failure rate during compliance checks in 2022.

For retailers, this means fines and penalties for both the person who made the sale and the licensee. Repeated violations can cost retail licensees thousands of dollars and increase employee turnover.

For the state, this failure rate means Nevada was out of compliance with the federal Synar program requirement of less than 20%. The state is at risk of facing monetary and programmatic penalties of 10% of the state’s $17 million Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment (SAPTA) Block Grant funds as a result of this non-compliance. SAPTA funds numerous programs in the state including behavioral and mental health counseling and treatment, substance abuse prevention and treatment programs, homelessness services, and crisis services, to name a few.

Fortunately, the 2023 and 2024 tobacco retail sales rate to youth have stayed under 20%, but tobacco retailers must remain vigilant about keeping these rates low in order to avoid penalties to both the retailers themselves and the necessary social service programs provided by the state.

Protecting Nevada’s youth
from purchasing tobacco

On December 20, 2019, the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act was amended to raise the federal minimum age of sale of tobacco products from 18 to 21 years. It is now illegal for a retailer to sell any tobacco product – including cigarettes, cigars and electronic vaping products – to anyone under 21.

In 2021, the Nevada Legislature passed Assembly Bill 59 increasing the minimum sales of tobacco to 21 years to align with federal regulation. In addition, the 2021 Legislature passed Assembly Bill 360 requiring retailers use ID scanning technology for tobacco sales to anyone under 40 years of age.

These laws are designed to make regulated tobacco products less accessible and less attractive to youth. Increasing the minimum sale age for tobacco products to 21 is an evidence-based and effective strategy to reduce smoking and other tobacco use among youth and save lives.

About 95% of smokers start before age 21. Every day, nationwide, nearly 1,900 kids smoke their first cigarette, and in Nevada, 800 kids become daily smokers every year. One-third of those kids will die prematurely as a result. Tobacco use results in more than 480,000 deaths as a result of cigarette smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke.

Increasing the tobacco age to 21 will help to prevent young people from ever starting to smoke and to reduce the deaths, disease and health care costs caused by tobacco use.

Although youth cigarette use has decreased, this decline is now being offset by increases in other products like electronic vaping products – which is creating a new generation of Nevadans who are at risk of nicotine addiction.

A report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) strongly concluded that raising the tobacco age at the national level would significantly reduce the number of adolescents and young adults who start smoking and reduce smoking-related deaths. According to the modeling conducted by IOM, the age group that will see the largest decrease in initiation rates by raising the minimum age of legal access to 21 will be youth ages 15-17. Currently, more than 1 in 5 (21.4%) Nevada high school youth use some kind of tobacco product (cigarettes, cigars, chew, or e-cigarettes). Increasing the age from 18 to 21 has the ability to decrease youth usage in our community and nationwide.

Tobacco retailers are responsible for following the law

Tobacco retailers play an important role in protecting children and adolescents by complying with the law and regulations.

Tobacco retailers are encouraged to take the FREE online tobacco merchant training at Responsible Tobacco NV. Responsible Tobacco NV is a resource to help merchants ensure proper training of staff members in regards to selling tobacco products. This online training provides an overview of federal and state laws, tobacco products, how to properly check IDs, and how to deal with challenging customer interactions.

Tobacco retailers who adopt a formal tobacco training program can also reduce their penalties should an employee violate the law with a tobacco sale.

What is a Tobacco Retailer’s Responsibility?

The minimum sale age for ANY tobacco product, including cigarettes, cigars, smokeless tobacco, and electronic vaping products, is 21 years old.

The FDA offers guidance on how to comply with the law:

Check the photo ID of everyone who appears under age 30 and who attempts to purchase any tobacco product.
Only sell tobacco products to customers age 21 or older.
Do NOT sell tobacco products in a vending machine unless in an adult-only facility.
Do NOT give away free samples of tobacco products to consumers, including any tobacco product components or parts.

Under federal law the sale of a tobacco product to an underage customer could result in significant monetary penalties, which can be greater than $17,000. The State of Nevada could also impose fines to retailers as well as clerks under NRS 370.521.

Additionally, it is REQUIRED that all Nevada tobacco retailers update and post signage reflecting the tobacco sale age of 21.

Proper tobacco retailer point-of-sale signage is REQUIRED because it will communicate and inform customers about the minimum sales age law and remind employees to verify age before making the sale of tobacco products.

ID Scanning Technology

The 2021 Nevada Legislature passed Assembly Bill 360 requiring retailers utilize ID scanning technology for tobacco sales on anyone under 40 years of age. The law went into effect January 1, 2023, and violations will result in a $100 civil penalty.

Tobacco Retailer Point-of-Sale Signage

Click to download signage.

Too many retailers are breaking the law

Tobacco retailers are selling tobacco products to youth (under 21 years) in Nevada at an all-time high, reaching an alarming 30% compliance failure rate and leaving the state out-of-compliance with the federal Synar program requirement of less than 20%.

Retailers must meet the federal requirement of less than 20% or the State of Nevada will face significant monetary penalties and could lose Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment (SAPTA) Block Grant funds. SAPTA funds numerous programs in the state including behavioral and mental health counseling and treatment, substance abuse prevention and treatment programs, homelessness services, and crisis services, to name a few.