B

Louisiana Grade Card

Population Covered:
4,648,794
Tobacco 21 Since:
August 1, 2021
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The Preventing Tobacco Addiction Foundation evaluated all current statewide Tobacco 21 laws for their alignment with best practices that lead to effective prevention of youth initiation of tobacco and nicotine products.

Best Practice:

Health Department or Designated Agency

Louisiana Enforcement:

Enforcement Division of Louisiana Alcohol and Tobacco Control (ATC) is the designated enforcement agency

Best Practice:

Before distributing any tobacco product, the tobacco retailer or the tobacco retailer’s agent or employee shall verify that the purchaser is at least 21 years of age. Each tobacco retailer or tobacco retailer’s agent or employee shall examine the purchaser’s government-issued photographic identification if the purchaser appears to be under 30 years of age.

Louisiana Enforcement:

Identification verification is required for all persons purchasing tobacco products

Best Practice:

The primary burden for sales to underage purchasers should fall on the retailer who is profiting from the sales of the product and not the purchaser or non-management employee.

Louisiana Enforcement:

Penalty is placed on the Retailer

Best Practice:
Provide authority for the state, county, or municipality to inspect tobacco retailers for compliance with MLSA 21 and a mandated minimum number of annual compliance checks. Model recommends two per year for every tobacco retail establishment.
Louisiana Enforcement:

Louisiana requires one compliance check per retailer per year

Best Practice:
The designated agency shall conduct compliance checks by engaging persons between the ages of 18 and 20 to enter the tobacco retail establishment to attempt to purchase tobacco products.
Louisiana Enforcement:

Decoy age to be 16-20 as specified in the Tobacco 21 law

Best Practice:
A comprehensive tobacco retail license allows states and municipalities to regulate all tobacco retailers, fund enforcement programs, and create a penalty structure that suspends or revokes a license for retailers that continue to violate a MLSA 21 law.
Louisiana Licensing:

Louisiana has multiple licenses that cover all products

Best Practice:
The fee for a tobacco retail sales license shall be set and used to cover the administrative cost for licensing administration, education and training, retail inspections, and unannounced compliance checks. The tobacco retail sales license fee should not exceed the cost of the regulatory program authorized beyond the statute/ordinance.
Louisiana Licensing:

Louisiana’s Tobacco Retail License does not fund enforcement; however, an additional source of revenue was added via the Responsible Vendors class

Best Practice:
An effective licensing system requires tobacco retailers to pay an annual license fee and allows it to be periodically adjusted. Fee must be adequate to cover License administration, education/training, and enforcement. An annual fee of lower than $300 is generally inadequate to fund a licensing program.
Louisiana Licensing:

Louisiana’s Tobacco Retail License fee renews annually and is $25 per retailer and $75 per year or any portion thereof issued to a vending machine operator operating one or more vending machines. These fees are not sufficient to fund an enforcement program.

Best Practice:

Establish a civil penalty structure for violations rather than a criminal penalty structure.

Louisiana Penalties:

Louisiana has a civil penalty structure

Best Practice:

36 months

Louisiana Penalties:

Louisiana has a 24-month violation accrual period

Best Practice:

1st violation = $500
2nd violation = $750 and (7) day suspension
3rd violation = $1,000 and (30) day suspension
4th violation = $1000 and (3) year suspension

Louisiana Penalties:

The Commissioner may, in lieu of or in addition to revocation or suspension of permit issued, impose the following schedule of fines.

 

1st violation = fine of not less than $50 but not more than $500

2nd violation = fine of not less than $500 but not more than $2,500

3rd violation = fine of no less than $500 and not mor than $2,000

Best Practice:
An evidence-based, best practices tobacco MLSA 21 policy should focus penalties on the tobacco retailer who profits from the illegal sale rather than the youth who is likely addicted to the product. PUP laws may be unlikely to reduce youth smoking significantly.
Louisiana Penalties:

Louisiana does penalize youth for possession of tobacco products; however, it is to be noted that the penalty of purchasing has been removed

Best Practice:

Local governments have a critical role in reducing the deadly toll of tobacco by regulating sales and restricting retailer access to youth for to these products to prevent use and addiction.
Tobacco 21 legislation should not introduce new tobacco control preemption, nor expand existing tobacco control preemption, and instead should be used as an opportunity to assert local authority or repeal existing tobacco control preemption.

Louisiana Preemption:

Louisiana has existing preemption

Best Practice:

A comprehensive definition will cover all current, known tobacco and nicotine products, which include not only cigarettes, cigars, and smokeless tobacco, but also products like pipes, rolling papers, electronic smoking devices, and other related devices. A strong definition will also be broad enough to capture future products.

Louisiana Definitions:

Louisiana’s Tobacco 21 law includes comprehensive definitions