St. Petersburg, FL Business Licensing & Operations: Tobacco Retail License (2026)

Section 20-125, adopted by Ordinance No. 259-H on February 16, 2017, regulates retail sale, display, and use of "electronic cigarettes," "e-cigarettes," and "liquid nicotine" products, defined broadly to cover any electronic, chemical, or mechanical device that delivers a vapor of nicotine or other substances for inhalation "in simulation of smoking, vaping, or other inhalation mechanism," including e-cigars and e-pipes under any product name. Subsection (c) bars anyone under 18 from knowingly purchasing or possessing these products, and bars any "person, business, or other establishment" from selling or offering to sell them to anyone under 18 or to anyone who "appears to be under the age of 27" without first checking identification.

Retailers dealing in these products must post, on the interior of the building where customers can read it, a sign at least one foot by two feet stating that sale of e-cigarettes, liquid nicotine, or tobacco products to a person under 18 is prohibited. Subsection (d) separately bans "self-service merchandising", open display racks, kiosks, counters, or cases the public can access without a clerk's intervention, for these products, and requires any open display unit to be located where customers under 18 cannot reach it unless the whole premises already excludes minors. 2045 exempts, and separately bans their use in every city-owned or -controlled park, baseball field, or other athletic facility. ch. 569.