2023 Massachusetts General Laws › Part I - Administration of the Government › Title IX - Taxation › Chapter 64c - Cigarette Excise › Section 10 - Regulation of Vending Machines; Penalties for Particular Offenses; Sales to Children

Section 10. No person shall have in his possession a machine for vending cigarettes for a period in excess of seventy-two hours unless there shall be attached to the same a disc or marker as provided by section two; provided, that this provision shall not apply to any such machine while not containing cigarettes and in the possession of a manufacturer of, or dealer in, such machines or a licensed vending machine operator. If any person has in his possession a vending machine, containing cigarettes, not properly licensed, the commissioner may cause such vending machine to be sealed until properly licensed and such person shall be subject to the same penalty as a retailer selling cigarettes without being licensed so to do. Any person who shall sell, offer for sale or possess with intent to sell any cigarettes, or otherwise act as a manufacturer, wholesaler, vending machine operator, transportation company or retailer, without being licensed so to do, shall, in addition to any other penalty provided by this chapter, be punished by a fine of not more than fifty dollars. Any person who shall act as an unclassified acquirer without being licensed as provided by section two shall be punished by a fine of not less than five hundred nor more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both. Any person who shall knowingly purchase or possess any cigarettes not manufactured, purchased or imported by a licensed manufacturer, licensed wholesaler, licensed vending machine operator, licensed unclassified acquirer or licensed transportation company, shall be punished by a fine of not less than fifty nor more than one thousand dollars. Any person who shall knowingly have in his possession a shipping case or other container of cigarettes, containing cigarettes and not bearing the name and address of the person receiving the cigarettes from a manufacturer or such other markings as the commissioner may prescribe, and any person knowingly being in possession within the commonwealth of such a shipping case or other container of cigarettes from which such name and address has been erased or defaced, shall be punished by a fine of not less than twenty-five nor more than one hundred dollars. No person, either as principal or agent, shall sell or solicit orders for cigarettes to be shipped, mailed or otherwise sent or brought into the commonwealth to any person not a licensed manufacturer, licensed wholesaler, licensed vending machine operator, licensed unclassified acquirer or licensed transportation company, unless the same is to be sold to or through a licensed wholesaler. Any operator of a vending machine for the sale of cigarettes or tobacco and any owner or tenant of a location where a vending machine is located who shall permit any person under 21 to use such machines, shall be punished by a fine of not more than fifty dollars. Each vending machine containing cigarettes or tobacco shall have attached on the front of it a notice to be furnished by the commissioner reading ''Persons under 21 are prohibited from using this machine'', and any person owning or operating a vending machine who fails to display such a notice shall be punished by a fine of not more than fifty dollars. No person shall sell cigarettes through a vending machine unless said machine is so constructed as to permit the commissioner or his agents readily to determine whether the package of cigarettes being sold through said machine have affixed to them the proper stamps evidencing payment of the excise imposed by this chapter. Each violation of this chapter shall be deemed to constitute a separate offense. Any person who files any false return, affidavit, or statement, or who violates any provision of this chapter for which no other penalty has been provided, shall be punished by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both. The state police and all local police authorities shall have the authority to enforce, and shall, at the request of the commissioner or his duly authorized agent, enforce, the provisions of this section.