5.38.040 General Requirements and Prohibitions.
A. Tobacco Retailer’s License Requirement. It shall be unlawful for any person to act as a tobacco retailer in the City without first obtaining and maintaining a valid tobacco retailer’s license pursuant to this chapter for each location at which tobacco retailing is to occur. Tobacco retailing without a valid tobacco retailer’s license is a nuisance as a matter of law.
B. Lawful Business Operation. In the course of tobacco retailing or in the operation of the business or maintenance of the location for which a license is issued, it shall be a violation of this chapter for a licensee, or any of the licensee’s agents or employees, to violate any local, state, or federal law applicable to tobacco products, tobacco paraphernalia, or tobacco retailing.
C. Display of License. Each tobacco retailer license shall be prominently displayed in a publicly visible location at the licensed location.
D. Display of Prohibition of Sale to Minors. Tobacco retailers shall post plainly visible signs at the point of purchase of tobacco products which state:
THE SALE OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS TO PERSONS UNDER TWENTY-ONE YEARS OF AGE IS PROHIBITED BY LAW.
The letters of said signs should be at least one-quarter (1/4) inch high.
E. Positive Identification Required. No person engaged in tobacco retailing shall sell a tobacco product or tobacco paraphernalia to another person who appears to be under the age of twenty-seven (27) years without first examining the identification of the recipient to confirm that the recipient is at least the minimum age for sale of tobacco products as established by state law.
F. Minimum Age for People Selling Tobacco. No person who is younger than twenty-one (21) years of age shall engage in tobacco retailing.
G. Self-Service Displays Prohibited. Tobacco retailing by means of a self-service display is prohibited.
H. False and Misleading Advertising Prohibited. A tobacco retailer without a valid tobacco retailer’s license or a proprietor without a valid tobacco retailer’s license, including, for example, a person whose license has been suspended or revoked:
1. Shall keep all tobacco products and tobacco paraphernalia out of public view. The public display of tobacco products or tobacco paraphernalia in violation of this provision shall constitute tobacco retailing without a license under Larkspur Municipal Code Section 5.38.130 and the retailer shall not display any advertisement relating to tobacco products or tobacco paraphernalia that promotes the sale or distribution of such products from the tobacco retailer’s location or that could lead a reasonable consumer to believe that such products can be obtained at that location.
I. Sale of Flavored Tobacco Products Prohibited. No tobacco retailer shall sell a tobacco product containing, as a constituent or additive, an artificial or natural flavor or an herb or spice, including without limitation strawberry, grape, orange, clove, cinnamon, pineapple, vanilla, coconut, licorice, cocoa, chocolate, cherry, coffee, menthol, mint or wintergreen, that is a characterizing flavor of the tobacco product or smoke produced by the tobacco product.
J. Minimum Package Size for Cigars. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, it shall be a violation of this section for any licensee or any of the licensee’s agents or employees to sell, offer for sale, or exchange for any form of consideration:
1. Any single cigar, whether or not packaged for individual sale;
2. Any number of cigars fewer than the number contained in the manufacturer’s original consumer packaging designed for retail sale to a consumer; or
3. Any package of cigars containing fewer than five (5) cigars.
This subsection (J) does not apply to the sale or offer for sale of a single cigar for which the retail price exceeds five dollars ($5.00). (Ord. 1037 § 2, 2019)