If your store delivers cigarettes, cigars, vapes, or any other tobacco product to customers’ homes, New Jersey just changed the rules on you. As of July 11, 2026, no one may complete a delivery of a tobacco product or electronic smoking device to a residence without first getting the signature of someone who is at least 21 years old and who actually lives there. The requirement comes from P.L.2025, c.226 (Assembly Bill A1813), which Governor Murphy approved on January 12, 2026, on a 180-day delayed start that has now run out.
What the Law Requires
The rule is simple to state and strict in practice. At the moment of delivery, the driver must obtain a signature from a resident of that address who is 21 or older. A signature from a neighbor, a visitor, or a younger member of the household does not satisfy the law. Leaving the package at the door, in a mailroom, or with a doorman without an adult resident’s signature is a violation.
- Covered products: all tobacco products and electronic smoking devices, including vapes, e-liquids, cigars, and cigarettes.
- Who must sign: an individual at least 21 years of age who resides at the delivery address.
- When: upon delivery, before the product changes hands.
- Exemption: U.S. Postal Service employees performing their assigned duties are exempt, since mail shipments are already governed by federal law.
Penalties Track the Underage-Sale Rules
Violations carry the same civil and criminal penalties that apply to selling or furnishing tobacco or vape products to anyone under 21: civil fines starting at $250 for a first violation, $500 for a second, and $1,000 for each violation after that, plus a petty disorderly persons offense on the criminal side. For licensed retail dealers, repeat violations by the store or its employees can also put your license to sell these products at risk of suspension or revocation. The statute preserves a good-faith defense where the purchaser presented what reasonably appeared to be a valid ID.
Why this matters for members: the law targets whoever completes the delivery. If your own employee drives the order, your store carries the violation, and repeat offenses can put your retail license on the line. If a third-party courier or delivery app completes the delivery, the signature duty and the penalties fall on the courier, not on your store; the statute places no separate obligation on a retailer for using a delivery service.
What Stores Should Do Now
- Train your drivers to check ID, confirm the signer lives at the address, and collect a signature every time. No signature, no delivery.
- Update delivery slips or apps to include a signature line and an age-verification checkbox with date and time.
- Using a third-party courier? The legal responsibility for the signature rides with them, not you. Many national delivery platforms refuse tobacco and vape orders outright; if yours accepts them, it is still smart business to confirm their New Jersey signature process so your customers are not left with failed deliveries.
- Keep records. Signed delivery confirmations are your best evidence of good faith if a violation is alleged.
The Department of Health is expected to adopt implementing regulations, so watch for additional guidance on record-keeping and enforcement. AARA will update members as the rules firm up.