(a)(1) No person under 21 years of age shall purchase any tobacco product, possess any tobacco product, or attempt to purchase or possess any tobacco product.

(2) Paragraph (1) of this subsection shall not apply to a person under 21 years of age who is handling or transporting tobacco products under the terms of his or her employment.

(b) No person under 21 years of age shall falsely represent his or her age, or possess or present as proof of age an identification document which is in any way fraudulent, for the purpose of purchasing, possessing, or consuming tobacco products in the District.

(c)(1) Any person who violates subsection (a) of this section may be subject to a civil penalty of $25.

(2) Any person who violates subsection (b) of this section may be subject to a civil penalty for each offense of:

(A) $100 the first time the offense or offenses occurred;

(B) $200 the second time the offense or offenses occurred; and

(C) $300 the third and subsequent times the offense or offenses occurred.

(3) A violation of subsection (a) or (b) of this section shall be a civil infraction for the purposes of Chapter 18 of Title 2 [§ 2-1801.01 et seq.].

(4) The Mayor, pursuant to subchapter I of Chapter 5 of Title 2 [§ 2-501 et seq.], may issues rules to increase the amount of the fine for a violation of subsection (a) or (b) of this section.

(Feb. 7, 1891, 26 Stat. 736, ch. 117, § 4; as added July 23, 2010, D.C. Law 18-189, § 3(d), 57 DCR 3019; Feb. 18, 2017, D.C. Law 21-191, § 2(c), 63 DCR 15003.)

Section 7021 of D.C. Law 22-168 repealed section 5 of D.C. Law 21-191 removing the applicability restriction impacting this section. Therefore the amendments of this section by D.C. Law 21-191 have been implemented.

Applicability of D.C. Law 21-191: § 5 of D.C. Law 21-191 provided that the change made to this section by § 2(c) of D.C. Law 21-191 is subject to the inclusion of the law’s fiscal effect in an approved budget and financial plan. Therefore that amendment has not been implemented.