Columbia, SC Business Licensing & Operations: Tobacco Retail License (2026)
Key Facts
- Covered retailers
- Vape shops, cannabis shops, grocers, health stores
- THC threshold
- 0.3% or less to qualify as cannabis/hemp
- Sign size
- At least 50% of the product signage
- No separate license
- Article XIII creates no vape-specific permit
- Default penalty
- Up to $500 fine or 30 days jail
Summary
Columbia does not license vape shops separately, but it does regulate what they must tell customers. Any retailer selling cannabis products, defined broadly enough to include vape shops, health stores, and grocers, must post a disclosure sign next to the product display warning that using the product may cause a person to fail a workplace drug test.
Purveyors of cannabis products shall post clear and conspicuous signage on or near displays of cannabis products stating that consumption or use of cannabis products may cause a person to fail a workplace drug screening test. These signs must be equal to 50 percent of the size of the purveyor's product signage.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 35).
Full Breakdown
Chapter 11, Article XIII of the Columbia Code of Ordinances, adopted by Ordinance No. 2022-082, governs retail sale of cannabis products in the city, and its definitions sweep in vape shops directly. C. Code 44-53-110(27)(a). 'Product' covers vapor cartridges, cigarettes, gummies, chocolates, teas, and patches containing cannabis. Rather than requiring a separate city license or zoning approval for these retailers, section 11-802 imposes a single, specific duty: purveyors must post clear and conspicuous signage on or near every display of cannabis products stating that using the product may cause a person to fail a workplace drug screening test, and that signage must be sized at least half as large as the product signage it sits beside.
The article does not create a permit process, a spacing requirement, or an age restriction of its own; a vape shop otherwise still needs the general city business license required of any retail business operating in Columbia.
Violations & Fines
Article XIII does not set its own penalty, so a violation of the disclosure-sign requirement falls under the code's general penalty in section 1-5: a fine of up to $500.00, imprisonment for up to 30 days, or both, with each day the sign stays missing counted as a separate offense enforceable by a uniform ordinance summons.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Columbia require a special license for vape shops?
What must a vape shop post on its cannabis product displays in Columbia?
What happens if a Columbia vape shop skips the required warning sign?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Columbia
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