Cigarettes and tobacco products: identification requirements.

Existing law prohibits the sale, distribution, or nonsale distribution of tobacco products directly or indirectly to any person under 18 years of age. Existing law requires a person selling or distributing, or engaging in the nonsale distribution of, tobacco products directly to a consumer in the state through the United States Postal Service or package delivery service to verify that the purchaser or recipient of the product is 18 years of age or older. Under existing law, if the seller, distributor, or nonsale distributor is unable to verify that the purchaser or recipient is 18 years of age or older, he or she is required to require the purchaser or recipient to submit an age-verification kit, which includes a copy of a valid form of government identification, as specified. A violation of these provisions may result in an assessment of civil penalties. This bill would provide that, for the purposes of these requirements, if a customer or recipient provides an identification card issued by the United States Armed Forces as proof of age and the identification card lacks a physical description, but includes date of birth and a photo, further proof of age is not required.