SB 1400: Tobacco.

Existing law, the Cigarette and Tobacco Products Licensing Act of 2003, requires a retailer to obtain a license from the State Board of Equalization to engage in the sale of cigarettes and tobacco products in this state and defines a retailer as a person who engages in this state in the sale of cigarettes or tobacco products directly to the public from a retail location. The act defines a retail location as both any building from which cigarettes or tobacco products are sold at retail and a vending machine. The act also defines tobacco products to include, but not be limited to, all forms of cigars, smoking tobacco, chewing tobacco, snuff, and any other articles or products made of, or containing at least 50%, tobacco, but does not include cigarettes. A violation of these provisions is a crime.

This bill would, would expand the definition of tobacco products to include a product containing, made, or derived from tobacco or nicotine, as specified, an electronic device that delivers nicotine or other vaporized liquids to the person inhaling from the device, and any component, part, or accessory of a tobacco product. The bill would, beginning January 1, 2019, revise the definition of a retail location to mean a tobacco store that is a retail business that, among other things, generates more than 60% of its gross revenues annually from the sale of tobacco products and tobacco paraphernalia. By expanding the definition of a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.