2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 18 - CRIMINAL CODE (§§ 18-1-101 — 18-26-102) › Article 13 - MISCELLANEOUS OFFENSES (§§ 18-13-101 — 18-13-133) › Section 18-13-121 - Furnishing cigarettes, tobacco products, or nicotine products to persons under twenty-one years of age

(1)
(a)
A person shall not give, sell, distribute, dispense, or offer for sale a cigarette, tobacco product, or nicotine product to any person who is under twenty-one years of age.
(b)
Before giving, selling, distributing, dispensing, or offering to sell to an individual any cigarette, tobacco product, or nicotine product, a person shall request from the individual and examine a government-issued photographic identification that establishes that the individual is twenty-one years of age or older.
(c)
A person who violates subsection (1)(a) or (1)(b) of this section commits a civil infraction and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of two hundred dollars, notwithstanding the provisions of section
18-1.3-503
.
(d)
It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution under subsection (1)(a) of this section that the person furnishing the cigarette, tobacco product, or nicotine product was presented with and reasonably relied upon a government-issued photographic identification that identified the individual receiving the cigarette, tobacco product, or nicotine product as being twenty-one years of age or older.
(2)
Repealed.
(3)
(a)
Nothing in this section prohibits a statutory or home rule municipality, county, or city and county from enacting an ordinance or resolution that prohibits the sale of any cigarettes, tobacco products, or nicotine products to persons under twenty-one years of age or imposes requirements more stringent than provided in this section.
(b)
A statutory or home rule municipality, county, or city and county shall not enact an ordinance or resolution that establishes a minimum age to purchase cigarettes, tobacco products, or nicotine products that is under twenty-one years of age.
(3.5)
Nothing in this section affects federal laws concerning cigarettes, tobacco products, or nicotine products, as they apply to military bases and Indian reservations within the state.
(4)
(Deleted by amendment, L. 98, p. 1185, § 2, effective July 1, 1998.)
(5)
(a)
As used in this section, "cigarette, tobacco product, or nicotine product" means:
(I)
A product that contains nicotine or tobacco or is derived from tobacco and is intended to be ingested or inhaled by or applied to the skin of an individual; or
(II)
Any device that can be used to deliver tobacco or nicotine to the person inhaling from the device, including an electronic cigarette, cigar, cigarillo, or pipe.
(b)
Notwithstanding any provision of paragraph (a) of this subsection (5) to the contrary, "cigarette, tobacco product, or nicotine product" does not mean a product that the food and drug administration of the United States department of health and human services has approved as a tobacco use cessation product.
Amended by 2021 Ch. 462, § 372, eff. 3/1/2022.
Amended by 2020 Ch. 302, § 1, eff. 7/14/2020.
Amended by 2019 Ch. 53, § 1, eff. 7/1/2019.
Amended by 2014 Ch. 113, § 1, eff. 4/11/2014.
L. 87: Entire section added, p. 676, § 1, effective July 1. L. 91: Entire section amended, p. 410, § 1, effective April 19. L. 97: (4)(a) amended, p. 794, § 1, effective May 16; L. 98: (2) and (4) amended, p. 1185, § 2, effective July 1. L. 2001: (2)(a) amended, p. 581, § 6, effective July 1. L. 2008: (1), (2)(a), and (3) amended and (5) added, p. 886, § 1, effective July 1. L. 2011: (5) amended, (HB 11 -1016), ch. 157, p. 157, § 1, effective March 25. L. 2014: Entire section amended, (SB 14 -018), ch. 406, p. 406, § 1, effective April 11. L. 2019: (3) amended, (HB 19 -1033), ch. 184, p. 184, § 1, effective July 1. L. 2020: (1)(a), (1)(b), (1)(d), and (3) amended and (2) repealed, (HB 20-1001), ch. 1502, p. 1502, § 1, effective July 14. L. 2021: (1)(c) amended, (SB 21-271), ch. 3217, p. 3217, § 372, effective 3/1/2022.
Section 803(2) of chapter 462 (SB 21-271), Session Laws of Colorado 2021, provides that the act changing this section applies to offenses committed on or after March 1, 2022.
2021 Ch. 462, was passed without a safety clause. See Colo. Const. art. V, § 1(3).