(a) Except as otherwise provided by divisions (D) and (E) of R.C. § 2927.02, no manufacturer, producer, distributor, wholesaler or retailer of cigarettes, other tobacco products, or tobacco product paraphernalia or any agent, employee or representative of a manufacturer, producer, distributor, wholesaler, or retailer of cigarettes, other tobacco products, or tobacco product paraphernalia shall do any of the following:
(1) Give, sell, or otherwise distribute cigarettes, other tobacco products, or tobacco product paraphernalia to any person under twenty-one years of age;
(2) Give away, sell, or distribute cigarettes, other tobacco products, or tobacco product paraphernalia 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 twenty-one years of age is prohibited by law.
(b) No person shall sell or offer to sell cigarettes, tobacco products, or tobacco product paraphernalia by or from a vending machine except in the following locations:
(1) 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 twenty-one years are not generally permitted access;
(2) In any other place not identified in subsection (b)(1) of this section, 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 purchases of cigarettes, tobacco products, or tobacco product paraphernalia 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 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 R.C. § 2913.01.
(Ord. 2020-01. Passed 3-3-20.)