ROCKVILLE, Md. — In Montgomery County, you can’t sell tobacco to anyone under 18. It’s already against the law.
But the Montgomery County Council is considering a resolution to specify the fines that violators would have to pay. The resolution also allows the county’s fines to apply in jurisdictions like Rockville and Gaithersburg.
Municipalities in Maryland write their own regulations, but when the county acts as the Board of Health, its resolutions can apply in municipalities.
So on Tuesday, the council will consider a resolution that will cost anyone who sells or gives tobacco products to minors $1,000. If passed by the council, the resolution that would generate a civil fine would apply to the sale or distribution of cigarettes, cigars, rolling papers and smokeless tobacco (snuff or chewing tobacco.)
The owner of a cigarette vending machine would not be held liable for the sale or distribution of cigarettes bought from vending machines.
If passed, the regulation would go into effect on Feb. 21, 2016.
