Maryland

Maryland has multiple Tobacco Retail Licenses that cover all products with a fee designated to fund enforcement. Although the state fee is only $15-30, counties have additional liceses and fees that renew annually to cover enforcement costs. There are no mandated compliance checks required; however, there’s a permanent line item in the state budget for Tobacco Enforcement to conduct compliance checks on 100% of retailers annually and larger jurisdiction s 7-80%. The Maryland Health Department is the designated enforcement agency with ID checks required for any purchaser that appears to be under 27 years of age. Penalties can be civil or criminal and placed on the retailer. The penalty fine schedule is strong, but license suspension and revocation is not specified and is left to the discretion of the Comptroller of Maryland.