California Business and Professions Code 22963 makes it illegal for any Anaheim retailer to sell or furnish tobacco, vape, or nicotine products to anyone under twenty-one, with a narrow exemption for active-duty military personnel eighteen or older.
California raised the tobacco purchase age to twenty-one in 2016 ahead of federal Tobacco 21 in 2019. Every Anaheim cigarette, cigar, vape, hookah, smoke shop, gas station, and grocery retailer must check government photo ID for any customer who appears under thirty. Self-service displays of tobacco are prohibited except in adult-only venues. Sales to minors trigger the STAKE Act sting program by California Department of Public Health. The military exemption was repealed in 2018 leaving no purchase exception. Possession by anyone under twenty-one in Anaheim is not itself an infraction under state law, but use on school grounds is.
First retailer violation is $400-600, escalating to $5,000-6,000 plus license suspension by the fifth offense. Clerks face personal misdemeanor liability for knowing sales to minors.
See how other cities in Orange County handle tobacco age restrictions.
See how Anaheim's tobacco age restrictions rules stack up against other locations.
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