(a) No manufacturer, producer, distributor, wholesaler or retailer of cigarettes or other tobacco products, or any agent, employee or representative of a manufacturer, producer, distributor, wholesaler or retailer of cigarettes or other tobacco products, shall do any of the following:
(1) Give, sell or otherwise distribute cigarettes or other tobacco products to any person under eighteen years of age;
(2) Give away, sell or distribute cigarettes or other tobacco products in any place that does not have posted in a conspicuous place a sign stating that giving, selling or otherwise distributing cigarettes or other tobacco products to a person under eighteen years of age is prohibited by law.
(b) No person shall sell or offer to sell cigarettes or other tobacco products by or from a vending machine except in the following locations:
(1) In an area either:
A. Within a factory, business, office or other place not open to the general public; or
B. To which persons under the age of eighteen years are not generally permitted access;
(2) In any other place not identified in paragraph (b)(1) hereof, upon all of the following conditions:
A. The vending machine is located within the immediate vicinity, plain view and control of the person who owns or operates the place, or an employee of such person, so that all cigarettes and other tobacco product purchases from the vending machine will be readily observed by the person who owns or operates the place or an employee of such person. For the purpose of this section, a vending machine located in any unmonitored area, including an unmonitored coatroom, restroom, hallway or outer waiting area, shall not be considered located within the immediate vicinity, plain view and control of the person who owns or operates the place, or an employee of such person.
B. The vending machine is inaccessible to the public when the place is closed.
(c) As used in this section, “vending machine” has the same meaning as “coin machine” as defined in Section 642.01 of this General Offenses Code.
(d) Whoever violates any of the provisions of this section is guilty of illegal distribution of cigarettes or other tobacco products, a misdemeanor of the fourth degree. If the offender has previously been convicted of a violation of this section, then illegal distribution of cigarettes or other tobacco products is a misdemeanor of the third degree. The penalty shall be as provided in Section 698.02. (ORC 2927.02)