Colorado statute
C.R.S. § 18-13-121 — Furnishing cigarettes, tobacco products, or nicotine products to persons under twenty-one years of age.
Current through 2025 Regular Session
Part of Article 13: Miscellaneous Offenses, Colorado Revised Statutes.
Criminal charges under this statute
Full text of C.R.S. § 18-13-121
Statutory text current through the 2025 Regular Session. This is an officially sanctioned publication using the official text of the Colorado Revised Statutes; it is not the official statutes of the State of Colorado.
(1) (a) A person shall not give, sell, distribute, dispense, or offer for sale a cigarette, tobacco product, or nicotine product to any person who is under twenty-one years of age. (b) Before giving, selling, distributing, dispensing, or offering to sell to an individual any cigarette, tobacco product, or nicotine product, a person shall request from the individual and examine a government-issued photographic identification that establishes that the individual is twenty-one years of age or older. (c) A person who violates subsection (1)(a) or (1)(b) of this section commits a civil infraction and, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of two hundred dollars, notwithstanding the provisions of section 18-1.3-503. (d) It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution under subsection (1)(a) of this section that the person furnishing the cigarette, tobacco product, or nicotine product was presented with and reasonably relied upon a government-issued photographic identification that identified the individual receiving the cigarette, tobacco product, or nicotine product as being twenty-one years of age or older. (2) Repealed. (3) (a) Nothing in this section prohibits a statutory or home rule municipality, county, or city and county from enacting an ordinance or resolution that prohibits the sale of any cigarettes, tobacco products, or nicotine products to persons under twenty-one years of age or imposes requirements more stringent than provided in this section. (b) A statutory or home rule municipality, county, or city and county shall not enact an ordinance or resolution that establishes a minimum age to purchase cigarettes, tobacco products, or nicotine products that is under twenty-one years of age. (3.5) Nothing in this section affects federal laws concerning cigarettes, tobacco products, or nicotine products, as they apply to military bases and Indian reservations within the state. (4) (Deleted by amendment, L. 98, p. 1185, § 2, effective July 1, 1998.) (5) (a) As used in this section, "cigarette, tobacco product, or nicotine product" means: (I) A product that contains nicotine or tobacco or is derived from tobacco and is intended to be ingested or inhaled by or applied to the skin of an individual; or (II) Any device that can be used to deliver tobacco or nicotine to the person inhaling from the device, including an electronic cigarette, cigar, cigarillo, or pipe. (b) Notwithstanding any provision of paragraph (a) of this subsection (5) to the contrary, "cigarette, tobacco product, or nicotine product" does not mean a product that the food and drug administration of the United States department of health and human services has approved as a tobacco use cessation product.
Official sources
Legal terms used in this section
Questions this section answers
Is furnishing cigarettes, tobacco products, or nicotine products to persons under twenty-one years of age a felony or a misdemeanor in Colorado?
Furnishing cigarettes, tobacco products, or nicotine products to persons under twenty-one years of age is a civil infraction in Colorado under C.R.S. § 18-13-121.
Which Colorado statute covers furnishing cigarettes, tobacco products, or nicotine products to persons under twenty-one years of age?
Furnishing cigarettes, tobacco products, or nicotine products to persons under twenty-one years of age is governed by C.R.S. § 18-13-121 (Furnishing cigarettes, tobacco products, or nicotine products to persons under twenty-one years of age).
This reference is informational and is not legal advice.