Deerfield Beach, FL Business Licensing & Operations: Tobacco Retail License (2026)

Section 46-39 defines 'nicotine vaporizer' broadly to include any electronic or battery-operated device with a mouthpiece, heating element and battery or circuit that delivers an inhaled dose of nicotine, whatever it is marketed as, including an electronic cigarette, cigar, cigarillo, pipe or hookah, and defines 'liquid nicotine' as any liquid product composed in whole or part of pure nicotine for use in those devices. Subsection (b) makes it unlawful for any person to sell, give or furnish either product to someone under 18, and requires the seller to check identification before selling to anyone who appears to be under 27, so a clerk cannot rely on appearance alone for a customer who looks under 27.

Subsection (c) separately bans offering nicotine vaporizers or liquid nicotine through self-service vending machines anywhere in the city, closing off the access route vending machines would otherwise give minors. The ordinance creates a sales and access restriction rather than a business or retail license: it does not require a vape shop to obtain a city-issued nicotine retail permit, register with a licensing division, or meet zoning-specific siting rules beyond the city's general commercial zoning and occupational license requirements that apply to any retailer. Enforcement rests with the city's code enforcement officers under subsection (d), and any violation is punished as provided in Section 46-1, which routes to the Code's general penalty in Section 1-15.