2023 South Carolina Code of Laws › Title 16 - Crimes and Offenses › Chapter 17 - Offenses Against Public Policy › Section 16-17-501. Definitions.

As used in this section and Sections 16-17-500, 16-17-502, 16-17-503, 16-17-504, and 16-17-506:
(1) "Distribute" means to sell, furnish, give, provide, or attempt to do so, whether gratuitously or for any type of compensation, tobacco products, including tobacco product samples, cigarette paper, or a substitute for them, to the ultimate consumer.
(2) "Distribution" means the act of selling, furnishing, giving, providing, or attempting to do so, whether gratuitously or for any type of compensation, tobacco products, including tobacco product samples, cigarette paper, or a substitute for them, to the ultimate consumer.
(3) "Electronic smoking device" means any device that may be used to deliver any aerosolized or vaporized substance, including e-liquid, to the person inhaling from the device including, but not limited to, an e-cigarette, e-cigar, e-pipe, vape pen, or e-hookah. "Electronic smoking device" includes any component, part, or accessory of the device, and also includes any substance intended to be aerosolized or vaporized during the use of the device whether or not the substance includes nicotine. "Electronic smoking device" does not include drugs, devices, or combination products authorized for sale by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, as those terms are defined in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
(4) "E-liquid" means a substance that:
(a) may or may not contain nicotine;
(b) is intended to be vaporized and inhaled using an electronic smoking device; and
(c) is a legal substance under the laws of this State and the laws of the United States.
"E-liquid" does not include cannabis or CBD as defined under the laws of this State and the laws of the United States unless it also contains nicotine.
(5) "Proof of age" means a driver's license or identification card issued by this State or any other state or a United States Armed Services identification card.
(6) "Sample" means a tobacco product distributed to members of the general public at no cost for the purpose of promoting the products.
(7) "Sampling" means the distribution of samples to members of the general public in a public place.
(8) "Tobacco product" means:
(a) any product containing, made of, or derived from tobacco or nicotine that is intended for human consumption or is likely to be consumed, whether inhaled, absorbed, or ingested by any other means including, but not limited to, a cigarette, a cigar, pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, snuff, or snus;
(b) any electronic smoking device as defined in this section and any substances that may be aerosolized or vaporized by such device, whether or not the substance contains nicotine; or
(c) any component, part, or accessory of subitem (a) or subitem (b), whether or not any of these contains tobacco or nicotine including, but not limited to, filters, rolling papers, blunt or hemp wraps, and pipes. Tobacco product does not include drugs, devices, or combination products authorized for sale by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, as those terms are defined in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
(9) "Tobacco retail establishment" means any place of business where tobacco products are available for sale to the general public. The term includes, but is not limited to, grocery stores, tobacco product shops, kiosks, convenience stores, gasoline service stations, bars, and restaurants.
(10) "Tobacco retailer" means any person, partnership, joint venture, society, club, trustee, trust association, organization, or corporation who owns, operates, or manages any tobacco retail establishment. Tobacco retailer does not mean the nonmanagement employees of any tobacco retail establishment.
HISTORY: 1996 Act No. 445, Section 2; 2006 Act No. 231, Section 3, eff six months after approval (approved February 21, 2006); 2013 Act No. 35, Section 2, eff June 7, 2013; 2019 Act No. 25 (H.3420), Sections 2.A to 2.D, eff April 26, 2019; 2023 Act No. 38 (H.3681), Section 6, eff August 14, 2023.
Editor's Note
2023 Act No. 38, Sections 1, 3 to 4, and 13, provide as follows:
"SECTION 1. This act may be cited as the 'Omnibus Tobacco Enforcement Act of 2023'."
"SECTION 3. Laws, ordinances, or rules enacted by political subdivisions of this State prior to December 31, 2020, pertaining to ingredients, flavors, or licensing, related to the sale of cigarettes, electronic smoking devices, e-liquid, vapor products, tobacco products, or any other products containing nicotine that can be ingested into the body by chewing, smoking, absorbing, dissolving, inhaling, or by any means, and municipal code amendments to said laws, ordinances, or rules, are exempt from the preemption imposed by this act. Nothing in this act shall be construed to interfere with a political subdivision's authority to determine its own public-use policies relating to any of the products referenced in this act.
"SECTION 4. Nothing in this act shall be construed to interfere with a political subdivision's authority under Chapter 29, Title 6, including, without limitation, with respect to land use regulation, land development regulation, zoning, or permitting."
"SECTION 13. This act takes effect ninety days after approval by the Governor except SECTION 2, SECTION 3, and SECTION 4 which take effect upon approval by the Governor."
Effect of Amendment
2019 Act No. 25, Section 2.A, in the undesignated paragraph, inserted "16-17-500,".
2019 Act No. 25, Section 2.B, in (6), in the first sentence, substituted "any vaping product, whether or not it includes nicotine, including electronic smoking devices," for "a product, including electronic cigarettes, that consists of or contains nicotine".
2019 Act No. 25, Section 2.C, rewrote (7), which had related to the definition of "electronic cigarette".
2019 Act No. 25, Section 2.D, added (8) and (9), relating to the definitions of "e-liquid" and "vapor product".
2023 Act No. 38, Section 6, rewrote the section.