Tobacco retail licensure is a system to enforce sales to underage persons laws as well as prevention policies that will have a meaningful impact on youth use of tobacco. When used to enforce effective policies, licensing can reduce the number of Oregon youth and young adults that become addicted to tobacco, help current tobacco users quit, and reduce health care costs.
As of January 1, 2022, any business that wants to be authorized to sell tobacco, nicotine and vaping products in Oregon is required to get a Tobacco Retail License from the Department of Revenue. The licensing requirement is imposed on all retailers. Visit the Tobacco Retail Licensing and Sales website for more information and resources.
Tobacco Retail Environment
Tobacco products are cheap, easily accessible, and heavily promoted. With bans on broadcast media and billboards, most tobacco marketing now occurs in the retail environment. The tobacco retail environment refers to any location where tobacco products are advertised, displayed, and purchased. It encompasses not only the final point of purchase (i.e. the register) but also indoor and outdoor advertising at retail locations, product placement and price.
Right now, everywhere tobacco is sold, tobacco can be advertised. Tobacco advertising targets youth and specific population groups (low income neighborhoods, communities of color and rural areas) and contributes to the disproportionate burden of tobacco use and tobacco-related diseases among vulnerable populations.
Visit the TPEP Portal and search by “retail" to see key resources for regulating the retail environment through flavor bans, density restrictions and more. (Reach out to your liaison if you need your log-in information resent.)
National Technical Assistance Resources
- The Public Health Law Center - Tobacco is America’s award-winning legal network for tobacco control policy. The Center works to assist communities with tobacco law-related issues, ranging from smoke-free policies to tobacco control funding laws to regulation of flavored cigarettes.
- Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids - The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is a leading force in the fight to reduce tobacco use and its deadly toll in the United States and around the world. Our vision: A future free of the death and disease caused by tobacco. We work to save lives by advocating for public policies that prevent kids from smoking, help smokers quit and protect everyone from secondhand smoke.
- Change Lab Solutions - ChangeLab Solutions provides community-based solutions for America’s most common and preventable diseases like cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and asthma. Our solutions promote the common good by making healthier choices easier for everyone.
- Counter Tobacco - Launched in August 2011, CounterTobacco.Org is the first comprehensive resource for local, state, and federal organizations working to counteract tobacco product sales and marketing at the point of sale (POS). Our site offers evidence-based descriptions of the problem, policy solutions, advocacy materials, news updates, and an image gallery exposing tobacco industry tactics at the point of sale.