§ 11-9-13.11 - Prohibition on the sale or distribution of tobacco products through the mail conveyance of tobacco products through the mail to children under eighteen (18) – Proof of age of
SECTION 11-9-13.11
§ 11-9-13.11 Prohibition on the sale ordistribution of tobacco products through the mail conveyance of tobaccoproducts through the mail to children under eighteen (18) – Proof of ageof purchaser required – General rule. – (a) The distribution, or sale or conveyance of tobacco products to childrenunder the age of eighteen (18) via the United States Postal Service, or by anyother public or private postal or package delivery service, shall be prohibited.
(b) Any person selling or distributing tobacco products inthe form of cigars, pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, or snuff directly to aconsumer via the United States Postal Service, or by any other public orprivate postal or package delivery service, including orders placed by mail,telephone, facsimile, or internet, shall: (1) before distributing or sellingthe tobacco product through any of these means, receive both a copy of a validform of government identification showing date of birth to verify the purchaseris age eighteen (18) years or over and an attestation from the purchasercertifying that the information on the government identification truly andcorrectly identifies the purchaser and the purchaser's current address, and (2)deliver the tobacco product to the address of the purchaser given on the validform of government identification and by a postal or package delivery servicemethod that either limits delivery to that purchaser and requires the purchaserto sign personally to receive the delivery or requires a signature of an adultat the purchaser's address to deliver the package.
(c) The attorney general shall bring an action for anyviolation of this chapter. Any distribution, or sale or conveyance of a tobaccoproduct to a child under eighteen (18) years of age via the United StatesPostal Service, or by any other public or private postal or package deliveryservice, shall be subject to an action against the distributor, or seller orconveyor by the attorney general of the state of Rhode Island. A minimum fineof one thousand dollars ($1,000) shall be assessed against any distributor, orseller or conveyor convicted of distributing, or selling or conveying tobaccoproducts via the United States postal service, or by any other public orprivate postal or package delivery service, for each delivery, or sale orconveyance of a tobacco product to a child under eighteen (18) years of age.
(d) For the purpose of this section, "distribution,""distributing," "selling" and "sale" do not include the acts of the UnitedStates Postal Service or other common carrier when engaged in the business oftransporting and delivering packages for others or the acts of a person,whether compensated or not, who transports or delivers a package for anotherperson without any reason to know of the package's contents.
(e) Any delivery sale of cigarettes shall be made pursuant tothe provisions of chapter 20.1 of title 44. The provisions of this sectionshall apply to each tobacco product listed in subsection (b) herein, but shallnot apply to any delivery sale of cigarettes.