Local Tobacco License.
All vendors selling tobacco in Providence are required to have a local tobacco license in addition to the State of RI license. The license must be visibly posted in the store. Failure to obtain a license will result in a fine of $500.
Ban on Non-Cigarette Flavored Tobacco Products
- All tobacco vendors in the City of Providence are prohibited from selling flavored tobacco or nicotine-containing products. Smoking bars are exempt, as defined by Sec. 23-20.10-2(15) in RI general laws.
- Flavored tobacco products include, but are not limited to tastes or aroma relating to any fruit, chocolate, vanilla, honey, candy, cocoa, herb, spice, dessert, or alcoholic beverage. They do not include menthol, mint, or wintergreen flavors.
- Tobacco products are any product containing tobacco or nicotine including, but not limited to: E-juices/liquids and cartridges for electronic devices (e.g. e-cigarettes, e-hookahs, vapes), cigars, pipe tobacco, snuff, chewing tobacco, dipping tobacco, bidis, snus and dissolvable tobacco.
Ban on Coupon and Price Discounts
- All vendors selling tobacco in the City of Providence are prohibited from accepting or redeeming any coupon that provides any tobacco products or cigarettes for free or for less than the listed retail price.
- Tobacco vendors are also prohibited from selling tobacco products or cigarettes at a multi-pack discount or buy down (E.g. buy two get one free).
Ban on Selling Individual Cigarettes or “Loosies”
All vendors selling tobacco are prohibited from selling individual cigarettes, also known as “loosies”.
Penalties and Fines
The following penalties and fines are applied to violations of the above laws and are consistent with other violations, such as underage tobacco sales:
- $250.00 for the first offense
- $350.00 for the second offense
- $500.00 for any subsequent offense
- Vendors with more than three (3) offenses may be subject to license revocation.