Louisiana Revised Statutes 26:911 – Acts prohibited
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 26:911
- Cigarette: includes any roll for smoking made wholly or in part of tobacco, irrespective of size or shape and irrespective of the tobacco being flavored, adulterated, or mixed with any other ingredient, where such roll has a wrapper or cover made of paper, or any other material except where such wrapper is wholly or in greater part made of tobacco. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 26:901
- Commissioner: means the commissioner of alcohol and tobacco control. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 26:901
- Dealer: includes every person who manufactures or purchases cigars, cigarettes, or other tobacco products for distribution or resale in this state. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 26:901
- Facility: means a part or portion of an establishment which is designed so as to impede a minor's access to a vending machine by walls or other separation in combination with signs designed to notify the public that persons under the age of eighteen are prohibited from the area. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 26:901
- Manufacturer: means anyone engaged in the manufacture, production, or foreign importation of tobacco products who sells to wholesalers. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 26:901
- Person: means any natural person, trustee, company, partnership, corporation, or other legal entity. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 26:901
- Purchase: means acquisition in any manner, for any consideration. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 26:901
- Retail dealer: includes every dealer other than a wholesale dealer, or manufacturer who sells or offers for sale cigars, cigarettes, other tobacco products, alternative nicotine products, or vapor products, irrespective of quantity or the number of sales. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 26:901
- retail sale: means any transfer for valuable consideration, made in the ordinary course of trade or in the usual conduct of the seller's business, of title to tangible movable property to the purchaser. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 26:901
- sell: means any transfer, exchange, or barter in any manner or by any means for any consideration. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 26:901
- Smokeless tobacco: means any finely cut, ground, powdered, or leaf tobacco that is intended to be placed in the oral or nasal cavity. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 26:901
- Smoking tobacco: includes granulated, plug cut, crimp cut, ready rubbed, and any other kind and form of tobacco prepared in such manner as to be suitable for smoking in pipe or cigarette. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 26:901
- Stamping agent: means a dealer that is authorized to affix tax stamps to packages or other containers of cigarettes under Louisiana Revised Statutes 26:901
- Tobacconist: means any bona fide tobacco retailer engaged in receiving bulk smoking tobacco for the purpose of blending such tobacco for retail sale at a particular retail outlet where fifty percent or more of the total purchases for the preceding twelve months were purchases of tobacco products, excluding cigarettes. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 26:901
- Wholesale dealer: means a dealer whose principal business is that of a wholesaler, who sells cigarettes, cigars, other tobacco products, vapor products, or alternative nicotine products to retail dealers for the purpose of resale, who is a bona fide wholesaler, and fifty percent of whose total tobacco, vapor, and alternative nicotine sales are to retail stores other than its own or those of its subsidiaries or parent companies within Louisiana. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 26:901
A. No person, agent, associate, employee, representative, or servant of any person shall permit any of the following acts to be done on or about any premises which sells or offers for sale tobacco products, alternative nicotine products, or vapor products:
(1) Sell or serve tobacco products, alternative nicotine products, or vapor products over-the-counter in a retail establishment to any person under the age of twenty-one. All persons engaging in the retail sale of tobacco products, alternative nicotine products, or vapor products shall check the identification of any tobacco purchaser to establish the age of the purchaser. A person shall verify age by submitting a driver’s license, selective service card, or other lawful identification which on its face establishes the age of the person as twenty-one years or older and there is no reason to doubt the authenticity or correctness of the identification.
(2) Violate the terms and provisions of La. Rev. Stat. 14:91.6 relative to the unlawful distribution of tobacco products, alternative nicotine products, or vapor products.
(3) Violate the terms and provisions of the “Prevention of Youth Access to Tobacco Law” under La. Rev. Stat. 14:91.8.
(4) Violate the terms and provisions of this Chapter or any rules or regulations promulgated by the office pursuant to this Chapter.
(5) Accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program “SNAP” electronic benefit transfer cards as payment for tobacco products in violation of the provisions of 7 U.S.C. § 2011 et seq., and any federal regulation issued pursuant thereto.
(6) Illegally sell, offer for sale, possess, or permit the consumption on or about the licensee’s premises of any kind or type of controlled dangerous substance.
B.(1)(a) No retail dealer shall purchase tobacco products for resale except from a wholesale dealer operating with a valid unsuspended wholesale dealer permit, except as provided for in this Chapter.
(b) No vapor retail dealer shall purchase alternative nicotine products, vapor products, or electronic cigarette products for resale except from a wholesale dealer operating with a valid unsuspended Louisiana wholesale dealer permit and a valid stamping agent designation permit pursuant to the provisions of La. Rev. Stat. 26:902(2)(a), except as provided for in this Chapter.
(2) No wholesale dealer shall sell tobacco products, alternative nicotine products, or vapor products for resale except to a retail dealer operating with either a valid registration certificate or a valid unsuspended permit.
(3)(a) Notwithstanding Paragraphs (B)(1) and (2), any tobacconist at a particular retail outlet as defined in Subparagraph (B)(3)(b) may purchase tobacco products for such retail outlet from any manufacturer, wholesale dealer, if such dealer has a valid, unsuspended certificate or permit, or other supplier.
(b) “Tobacconist at a particular outlet” for purposes of this Paragraph means a retail dealer engaged in receiving bulk smoking tobacco for the purpose of blending such tobacco for retail sale at a particular retail outlet where fifty percent or more of the total purchases for the preceding twelve months were purchases of tobacco products, excluding cigarettes.
C. No wholesale dealer shall sell to a retail dealer and no retail dealer shall sell to the public single cigarettes. No individual package of cigarettes shall be sold or distributed in individual packages containing fewer than twenty cigarettes. No smoking tobacco intended for use as roll-your-own smoking tobacco for cigarettes shall be sold or distributed in individual packages containing less than six-tenths of one ounce of smoking tobacco. No cigarette or smokeless tobacco product shall be sold to the public except in an unopened package originating with the manufacturer, bearing the health warning required by federal law, and evidencing that the applicable tax under Chapter 8 of Subtitle II of Title 47 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes of 1950 has been paid.
D. Manufacturers of vapor products shall not sell vapor products in this state without authorization from the office of alcohol and tobacco control pursuant to rules promulgated by the commissioner of the office of alcohol and tobacco control. The request for authorization shall include:
(1) The name, telephone number, and address of the applicant.
(2) The name, telephone number, and address of the manufacturing facility.
(3) The name, telephone number, title, and address of the person responsible for the manufacturing facility.
(4) Verification that the facility will comply with applicable tobacco products good manufacturing practices pursuant to 21 U.S.C. § 387f(e) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
(5) Verification that the manufacturer will comply with the applicable ingredient listing required by 21 U.S.C. § 387d(a)(1) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
E. No manufacturer shall sell any vapor products, electronic cigarettes, or alternative nicotine products online to any person under the age of twenty-one.
(1) At the time of any online purchase of vapor products, electronic cigarettes, or alternative nicotine products, a manufacturer shall obtain and verify the age of the recipient through the use of a real-time electronic age verification platform that shall be approved by the commissioner, and the platform shall be capable of both of the following:
(a) Verifying proof of age through authoritative digitized identification card technology.
(b) Storing the recipient’s name, age, date of birth, the expiration date of the identification, and the date and time that the identification was verified.
(2) A manufacturer shall refuse the online purchase of any vapor products, electronic cigarettes, or alternative nicotine products if either:
(a) The recipient does not produce a valid and current form of identification as provided in this Subsection.
(b) There is reason to doubt the authenticity or correctness of the recipient’s identification.
(3) At the time of any delivery of any vapor products, electronic cigarettes, or alternative nicotine products purchased online, a third-party delivery agent shall obtain the recipient’s signature and verify the age of the recipient through the use of a real-time electronic age verification device that shall be approved by the commissioner, and the device shall be capable of the following:
(a) Verifying proof of age through authoritative digitized identification card technology.
(b) Reading a valid state-issued driver’s license, a valid state-issued identification card, a valid military identification card, or a valid passport.
(c) Storing the recipient’s name, age, date of birth, the expiration date of the identification, and the date and time that the identification was scanned.
(4) The third party’s delivery agent shall refuse delivery and return the vapor products, electronic cigarettes, or alternative nicotine products to the manufacturer if any of the following occur:
(a) The recipient does not produce a valid and current form of identification as provided in this Section.
(b) There is reason to doubt the authenticity or correctness of the recipient’s identification.
(c) The recipient refuses to sign for the receipt of the delivery.
(5) Any violation of this Subsection shall result in a fine of five hundred dollars per offense.
Acts 1997, No. 1370, §2, eff. Oct. 1, 1997; Acts 1998, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 84, §1, eff. May 1, 1998; Acts 1999, No. 1265, §1, eff. July 12, 1999; Acts 2012, No. 28, §1; Acts 2014, No. 278, §2, eff. May 28, 2014; Acts 2019, No. 424, §1, eff. June 20, 2019; Acts 2021, No. 403, §2; Acts 2022, No. 34, §1; Acts 2023, No. 414, §2, eff. July 1, 2023.