Operational definitions of tobacco 21 component indicators
| Policy indicator | Operational definition |
| Policy prohibition | Includes the terms sale/sell, give, distribute and/or barter |
| Comprehensive tobacco product definition | Regulates products that ‘contain’, ‘made’, ‘derived’ from ‘tobacco’ and/or ‘nicotine’ |
| Regulates ENDS. ‘ENDS’; ‘electronic nicotine delivery device’; ‘electronic device that delivers nicotine or other substances’; ‘electronic delivery systems’ or ‘electronic smoking devices’ | |
| Regulates tobacco product ‘component’, ‘part’ or ‘accessory’ | |
| Exempts products authorised for sale as a cessation product, as defined in the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act | |
| Age verification | Requires seller to obtain age verification |
| ID request based on appearance age | |
| Appearance age to request for photo identification | |
| Signage | Sign stating legal age of sale for tobacco products is 21 years |
| Enforcement | Policy states that enforcement (compliance/inspection) checks will be done |
| Enforcement agency identified in the law | |
| Identifies no of inspections per retailer | |
| Identifies minimum no of under-age compliance checks/stings per retailer | |
| States age in which under-age compliance check decoy will be | |
| Provides justification for retail inspections/compliance (eg, smoking rates, access rates, location, density, demographics) | |
| Requires reinspection on violation | |
| Compliance reporting required (eg, post in newspaper or on department website) | |
| Includes a tobacco retail licence (TRL) for vendors | |
| Identifies fee for licence | |
| Requires annual renewal of the licence by retailer | |
| Grants authority to enforcement agency/licensing authority to set the licence fee | |
| Violations and penalties | Monetary non-compliance fine for retailers |
| Enforces civil or criminal penalty for retailer | |
| Retail penalty/fine structure identified | |
| Sets a minimum fine amount for retailer noncompliance | |
| States penalty fine amount for first, second, third and subsequent violations | |
| States time period for penalty accrual | |
| TRL suspension or revocation | |
| States licence may be suspended due to repeated violations | |
| States licence may be revoked due to repeated violations | |
| Enforces a monetary non-compliance penalty for the clerk | |
| Education | Education/training mentioned in the policy for retailer/clerk/employees |
| Education/training/communication mentioned in the policy for the general public | |
| Additional restriction measures | State statute includes additional measures, such as: flavour restrictions Distance restrictions (eg, from schools) Vending machine restrictions to age 21 Restriction of tobacco sales from pharmacies |
| Military exemption | Exempting military members or those with an active duty military ID |
| Grandfathering or phasing-in | Phasing-in enforcement or grandfathering individuals based on age or birthdate |
| Purchase, use, or possession (PUP) laws | Includes PUP restriction for under 21 years of age |
| Pre-emption | Creation of new or expansion of existing restrictions on lower government action |
| Adoption date | Date policy was signed into law |
| Effective date | Date when policy did/will go into effect |
ENDS, electronic nicotine delivery systems.