Washington, DC Tobacco & Vaping: Flavored Tobacco Bans (2026)
Key Facts
- Ban scope
- all flavored tobacco products, citywide sale ban
- Vape device buffer
- 1/4 mile of any middle or high school
- Individual penalty
- up to $25 per violation
- Business penalty
- up to $10,000 per violation
- License consequence
- suspension (1st-2nd), revocation (3rd+)
- Hookah bar exemption
- on-site only, pre-Sept. 30, 2021 bars
Summary
D.C. bans the sale, offer for sale, or distribution of flavored tobacco products citywide, plus electronic smoking devices within a quarter mile of any middle or high school. Violators face license suspension or revocation on top of civil fines up to $10,000 per violation.
(a) No person shall sell, offer for sale, receive for sale, distribute, purchase, or facilitate the sale of: (1) A flavored tobacco product; or (2) An electronic smoking device within one quarter mile of any middle or high school in the District. (c) Any license to sell tobacco products issued pursuant to § 47-2404: (1) May be suspended, after a hearing, for a first or second violation of subsection (a) of this section; and (2) Shall be revoked, after a hearing, for a third or subsequent violation of subsection (a) of this section. (e)(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, the sale for on-site consumption of flavored tobacco products intended to be used with a hookah shall be permitted for any hookah bar doing business in the District as of September 30, 2021. All flavored tobacco products sold pursuant to this subsection shall be consumed on site and may not be taken off premises. A person who violates § 7-1721.08 shall be subject to a civil penalty of: (A) Not more than $25 per violation, if the person committing the violation is an individual; and (B) Not more than $10,000 per violation, if the person committing the violation is a person other than an individual.
Full Breakdown
C. 08(a) makes it unlawful for any person to sell, offer for sale, receive for sale, distribute, purchase, or facilitate the sale of a flavored tobacco product anywhere in the District, and separately bars selling an electronic smoking device within one quarter mile of any middle or high school. Subsection (b) sets up a rebuttable presumption that a product is flavored if the manufacturer or its agents have publicly claimed a characterizing flavor, used packaging text or images implying one, or otherwise acted to make consumers believe the product carries a characterizing flavor, so enforcement does not depend on a lab test of the product itself.
08(c), the ABC Board (via ABCA) may suspend that license after a hearing for a first or second violation of the flavor ban, and must revoke it after a hearing for a third or subsequent violation. C. Consumer Protection Procedures Act, letting the Attorney General use CPPA investigatory and enforcement powers under §§ 28-3909 and 28-3910 against a seller. Subsection (e) carves out hookah bars operating in the District as of September 30, 2021: they may keep selling flavored tobacco intended for hookah use for on-site consumption only, product sold under that exemption cannot leave the premises, and a qualifying hookah bar does not have to relocate to stay compliant.
07(c) bars sworn police officers, Protective Services, Corrections officials, and Metro Transit police from enforcing it, leaving enforcement to civil regulatory channels rather than criminal policing.
Violations & Fines
Selling a flavored tobacco product, or an electronic smoking device within a quarter mile of a middle or high school, draws a civil penalty of up to $25 for an individual seller and up to $10,000 per violation for a business. ABCA can suspend the retailer's tobacco license after a hearing for a first or second offense and must revoke it on a third, and the same conduct separately violates the Consumer Protection Procedures Act, exposing the seller to Attorney General enforcement.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is menthol tobacco banned in Washington DC?
Can DC hookah bars still sell flavored tobacco?
What happens to a store caught selling flavored vapes in DC?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Washington
Compare Washington to another location·View the District of Columbia tobacco & vaping overview
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