Nevada's laws aim to prevent younger individuals from being able to buy cigarettes in the majority of locations. 

Earlier this month, Assembly Bill 279 was presented by Clark County Democratic Assemblymembers David Orentlicher and Cecelia Gonzalez. The law aims to prohibit cigarette sales to anyone born on January 1, 2005, or afterward. At present, individuals 21 years and older are allowed to buy tobacco items in Nevada. 

A person who breaches the suggested legislation would face a civil fine of up to $100. A tobacco seller who provides cigarettes to someone born after December 31, 2004, would incur a $100 fine for the initial violation, with the penalty scale escalating to $10,000 for a fourth violation within a two-year period. 

Referred to as a generational prohibition on nicotine, Orentlicher, an attorney and medical doctor who leads the UNLV Health Program, states that smoking cigarettes is the riskiest way to consume nicotine.

"There are alternative ways to get nicotine that aren’t nearly as harmful. We should ban the most harmful,” Orentlicher told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Jennifer Pearson, a public health professor at the University of Nevada in Reno, stated that “the fewer locations available to purchase cigarettes, the lesser the smoking rates.” 

Casino Exclusion 

Similar to numerous state smoking regulations nationwide that ban tobacco use in most indoor workplaces and public places, AB279 would create an exception for gaming establishments. The legislation from Orentlicher and Gonzalez would permit casinos and other gaming venues with nonrestricted licenses to keep selling cigarettes to individuals aged 21 or older, irrespective of being born after 2005. 

Orentlicher clarified that the loophole permits tourists to keep buying their cigarettes while visiting Las Vegas and various areas of the Silver State. The state legislator mentions that Beverly Hills implemented a comparable generational prohibition on tobacco sales in 2021. 

Nevada Cigarette Legislation Encounters Tough Challenges 

AB279 has been referred to the Assembly Revenue Committee for preliminary review. The bill has slim chances of appearing before the entire Assembly. 

Critics argue that enacting such a law would result in illicit sales of cigarettes that would escape regulation. Some argue that adults ought to be permitted to make their own choices. 

The Energy and Convenience Association of Nevada and the Cigar Association of America are two trade groups that have opposed AB279. An unexpected adversary is the Nevada Tobacco Control and Smoke-Free Coalition (NTCSC), which informed the RJ that it opposes laws that differentiate between tobacco products. 

The NTCSC states that recent research indicates approximately six out of ten adults in Nevada believe smoking should be prohibited in all indoor casinos. The nonprofit claims that modifying the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act to eliminate its loopholes would lead to yearly healthcare savings of $500 million. 

The Clean Indoor Air Act exemption exposes nearly 40% of Nevada’s workforce to secondhand smoke. In addition to casinos and gaming venues, the law allows exceptions for bars that do not serve food and where minors are not allowed, retail tobacco outlets, adult entertainment establishments, and trade show floors related to tobacco.