(a) Definitions. For the purposes of this Section, the following definitions shall apply:
(1) "Distribute" means giving, providing, or delivering Tobacco Products.
(2) "Electronic Smoking Device" means any device that may be used to deliver any aerosolized or vaporized nicotine or any other substance to the person inhaling from the device, including, but not limited to, an e-cigarette, e-cigar, e-pipe, vape pen ore-hookah. Electronic Smoking Device includes any component, part, or accessory to such a device, whether or not sold separately, and also includes any substance intended to be aerosolized or vaporized by such device, whether or not the substance contains nicotine. Electronic Smoking Device does not include drugs, devices, or combination products authorized for sale by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, as those terms are defined in the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
(3) "Purchaser" means any person who obtains or attempts to obtain a Tobacco Product.
(4) "Sale", "Sell" or "Sold" means transferring, or offering or attempting to transfer, a Tobacco Product for money, trade, barter, exchange or other consideration.
(5) "Self-Service Display" means the open display or storage of Tobacco Products in a manner that is physically accessible in any way to the general public without the assistance of the Tobacco Retailer or its agent, employee, or representative or without a direct person-to-person transfer between the Purchaser and the Tobacco Retailer or its agent, employee or representative.
(6) "Tobacco" or "Tobacco Product(s)" means: (a) any product containing, made of, or derived from tobacco or containing any form of nicotine that is intended for human consumption or is likely to be consumed, whether smoked, heated, chewed, dissolved, inhaled, absorbed, or ingested by any other means, including, but not limited to, a cigarette, cigar, pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, snuff or snus; (b) any Electronic Smoking Device and any substances that may be aerosolized or vaporized by such device, whether or not the substance contains nicotine; ( c) any component, part, or accessory of (a) or (b), whether or not any of these contain tobacco or nicotine, including, but not limited to, filters, rolling papers, blunt or hemp wraps, or pipes. Tobacco Product does not include drugs, devices, or combination products authorized for sale by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, as those terms are defined in the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
(7) "Tobacco Retailer" means any individual, firm, partnership, joint venture, association, joint stock company, corporation, unincorporated business entity, or any other group acting as a unit that owns a business where Tobacco Products are available for sale to the general public and are licensed pursuant to Chapter 868 of the Codified Ordinances. Tobacco Retailer, as used herein, includes any manufacturer, producer, distributor or wholesaler of Tobacco Products. Tobacco Retailer does not mean the employees or agents of an owner of a business where Tobacco Products are available to the general public.
(8) "Vending Machine" has the same meaning as "Coin Machine" in Ohio Revised Code Section 2913.01, as same may be amended from time to time.
(b) Restrictions on the Sale of Tobacco Products.
(1) Age Restriction. No Tobacco Retailer, or its agent, employee or representative, nor any other person, shall sell or distribute any Tobacco Product to any person under twenty-one (21) years of age, except if a person is participating in a research protocol described in subsections (c)(1)A. and (c)(2) herein and meets the requirements provided therein.
(2) Age Verification. Tobacco Retailers or their agents, employees or representatives shall verify by means of government-issued photographic identification that the Purchaser is at least twenty-one (21) years of age. No Tobacco Retailer, or its agents, employees, or representatives, nor any other person, shall sell or distribute any Tobacco Product to any individual who does not demonstrate, through a government-issued photographic identification, that the individual is at least twenty-one (21) years of age. Verification is not required for a person over thirty (30) years of age; provided however, that the Purchaser appeared to be thirty (30) years of age or older shall not constitute a defense to a violation of this Section in any proceeding alleging the sale of Tobacco Products to an individual under the age of twenty-one (21).
(3) Signage. Signs reading "THE SALE OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS TO PERSONS UNDER 21 IS PROHIBITED BY LAW" shall be legibly printed in letters at least one inch high and shall be posted clearly and conspicuously in every location where Tobacco Products are sold. Selling Tobacco Products in any place that does not have a sign consistent with this Section is prohibited by law and punishable as provided herein.
(4) Self-Service Display Prohibition. No Tobacco Retailer or its agent, employee or representative, nor any other person, shall sell or distribute Tobacco Products by or from a Self-Service Display.
(5) Vending Machine Prohibition. No Tobacco Retailer or its agent, employee or representative, nor any other person, shall sell or distribute Tobacco Products by or from a Vending Machine.
(6) False Information. No Tobacco Retailer or its agent, employee or representative, nor any other person, shall knowingly furnish any false information regarding the name, age, or other identification of any person under twenty-one (21) years of age with purposes to sell or distribute Tobacco Products.
(7) No Tobacco Retailer or its agent, employee or representative, not any other person, shall manufacture, sell or distribute any pack or other container of cigarettes containing fewer than twenty (20) cigarettes or any package of roll-your own tobacco containing less than six-tenths (6/10) of one ounce of tobacco.
(8) No Tobacco Retailer or its agent, employee or representative, nor any other person, shall sell any Tobacco Product in a smaller quantity than that placed in the pack or container by the manufacturer.
(9) No Tobacco Retailer or its agent, employee or representative, nor any other person, shall sell or distribute any Tobacco Product in a smaller quantity than was intended for retail when the Tobacco Product was packaged by the manufacturer.
(c) Affirmative Defenses.
(1) The following are affirmative defenses to a charge under subsections (b)(1) and (b)(2) hereof:
A. The parent, guardian, or legal custodian of a person under the age of eighteen (18) has consented in writing to a person under the age of eighteen (18) participating in research protocol, or a person over the age of eighteen (18), but under the age of twenty-one (21), has consented in writing, on his or her own behalf, to participate in research protocol.
B. The person who has sold or distributed Tobacco Products to a person under the age of twenty-one is a parent, spouse who is twenty-one (21) years of age or older, or legal guardian of the person who is under the age of twenty-one (21).
(2) It is not a violation of subsections (b)(1) or (b)(2) hereof to sell or distribute Tobacco Products to a person under the age of twenty-one (21) while the person under the age of twenty-one (21) is participating in a research protocol if all of the following apply:
A. The parent, guardian, or legal custodian of a person under the age of eighteen (18) has consented in writing to a person under the age of eighteen (18) participating in the research protocol, or a person over the age of eighteen (18), but under the age of twenty-one (21), has consented in writing, on his or her own behalf, to participate in the research protocol.
B. An institutional human subjects protection review board, or equivalent entity, has approved the research protocol.
C. The person under the age of twenty-one (21) is participating in the research protocol at the facility or location specified in the research protocol.
(d) Severability. The provisions of this Section are severable, and if any provision, clause, sentence or paragraph of this Section or the application thereof to any person or circumstances are held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unconstitutional or otherwise invalid, such a ruling shall not affect the other parts of this Section that can be given effect.
(e) Penalty. Whoever violates subsection (b) is guilty of illegal distribution of Tobacco Products. Except as otherwise provided herein, illegal distribution or sale of Tobacco Products is a misdemeanor of the fourth degree. If the offender has previously been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a violation of subsection (b) within the previous twelve (12) months, or any previous version of the Codified Ordinances relating to illegal distribution or sale of Tobacco Products, then illegal distribution or sale of Tobacco Products is a misdemeanor of the third degree. If the offender has been convicted of or pleaded guilty to two (2) or more violations of subsection (b) within the previous twelve (12) months, or any previous version of the Codified Ordinances relating to illegal distribution or sale of Tobacco Products, then illegal distribution of sale of Tobacco Products is a misdemeanor of the first degree and any Conditional Use Permit issued shall be revoked in accordance with the provisions of Section 1274.17.
(Ord. 20-2024. Passed 3-11-24.)