Panel 3c Litigation, Licensing, and Legislation: Civil Money Penalties and ENDS Licensing in Maryland

State and local tobacco licensing programs enable communities to identify retail businesses that sell tobacco products and conduct compliance checks to ensure these businesses comply with tobacco control laws. In Maryland, businesses that illegally sell tobacco products to minors face civil money penalties and criminal sanctions, as well as license suspension or revocation. This session will update participants on (1) best practices for conducting retail tobacco compliance checks, (2) new legislation permitting all Maryland jurisdictions to issue civil citations for illegal tobacco sales, and (3) recent legal challenges related to local retail tobacco compliance check programs

A synthesis of local cigar pack policies in the US

Communities have adopted cigar pack policies to eliminate inexpensive, small packs from being sold and reduce youth use. Still, it is unclear how widespread these policies are and whether they differ based on specific policy components. This study identified and measured local cigar pack size and price policies in the US. We used a systematic 14-step process to identify, obtain, and code local cigar pack policies, including pack size and pricing. Between January and July 2021, we identified 299 local cigar pack policies in the US. Policies were (1) identified through municipal code review and requests to state tobacco control representatives, (2) obtained online or from municipality representatives, and (3) double-coded for minimum pack size, minimum price, adopted/effective/enforcement dates, cigar definitions, differences in pack size/price by cigar type, price adjustments, whether the price is before discounts, policy exclusions, and enforcement. We identified 259 municipalities with cigar pack policies, 40 of which amended the pack size or price requirements after initial adoption, resulting in 299 policies. Policies specified eight different pack size requirements ranging from 2 to 25; most prevalent were minimums of 2 (n = 116, 39.2%) and 4 (n = 67, 22.6%). Minimum prices ranged from $0.35 to$10.00 per cigar. Exclusions included cigars priced above a specified amount (n = 225, 76.0%; $2.01-$10.00) and cigars sold at adult-only or tobacco retailers (n = 45, 15.2%). This is the first comprehensive synthesis of cigar pack size and price policies within the US. Policies vary widely both between and within states