Kennewick, WA Business Licensing & Operations: Tobacco Retail License (2026)

Tobacco and vapor-product retailing inside Kennewick is regulated entirely at the state level. Three layers apply. First, RCW Chapter 70.155 (Tobacco - Access to Minors) prohibits sale, gift, or distribution of cigarettes, cigars, and other tobacco products to persons under age 21; Washington raised the minimum legal sales age from 18 to 21 effective January 1, 2020, under Substitute House Bill 1074 (2019), conforming Washington law with the federal Tobacco 21 law. RCW 70.155.005 requires every retailer to obtain a license through the Department of Revenue and to post a sign on the premises stating the minimum legal sales age. RCW 70.155.080 (cigarettes) and RCW 82.26 (other tobacco products) set the state tobacco-license fee schedule. Second, RCW Chapter 70.345 (Vapor Products) applies the same 21-and-over rule and license requirement to vapor-product retailers; SHB 1074 (2019) integrated vapor-product age and licensing with the tobacco regime. Third, RCW Chapter 70.345 also imposes vapor-product manufacturer, distributor, and retailer license requirements and a child-resistant packaging rule. The licenses are issued and renewed through the Washington Department of Revenue's Business Licensing Service under the state Master License System; the same online portal that issues the Kennewick business license also handles the tobacco and vapor-product endorsements. Kennewick has not codified a parallel city tobacco license, a city flavor ban, a city retailer-density cap, or a city school-buffer rule; Washington has not adopted a statewide flavor ban as of May 2026.