Maine lawmakers are set to consider a bill later this month that would carve out an exception to the state’s new law prohibiting stores containing pharmacies from selling tobacco products.
Signed into law this past summer by Gov. Janet Mills (D), a bill sponsored by House Majority Leader Rep. Matt Moonen (D-Portland), barred all pharmacies and any retail establishments containing a pharmacy from selling tobacco products.
Fiscal estimates at the time suggested that this move would cost the state about $800,000 in the next fiscal year with projections indicating similar levels of loss expected for FY 2027-28 and FY 2028-29.
Although many retail pharmacies, including CVS in 2014 and Hannaford in 2020, have already independently decided to stop offering tobacco products in stores, under this law, businesses will not have a choice beginning in April of this year.
Under these new regulations, it is considered a civil violation punishable by a fine of up to $2,000 daily for a pharmacy, or retail establishment that contains a pharmacy, to sell tobacco products.
[RELATED: Janet Mills Signs Bill Preventing Maine Pharmacies from Selling Tobacco Products]
LD 2134, sponsored by Sen. Chip Curry (D-Waldo), would carve out exceptions for a certain subset of grocery stores, allowing them to continue offering tobacco products for sale despite the new regulations.
Retail establishments with less than 26,000 square feet of customer-accessible retail area and that are operated primarily as a grocery store could still potentially be eligible for a tobacco license, assuming that several other key conditions are met.
More specifically, pharmacies in these grocery stores must operate as a “separately demised, leased space under a written lease and holds a separate pharmacy license.”
Furthermore, the lease agreement between the pharmacy and the grocery store must have been established prior to July 7, 2025, when the original regulation was signed into law by the governor.
In addition to this, all of the grocery store’s tobacco sales would need to be made outside of the pharmacy’s leased premises, through the grocery store’s separate point of sale system, and from the store’s separate inventory.
Click Here for More Information on LD 2134
A public hearing for LD 2134 has been scheduled by the Legislature’s Health and Human Services (HHS) Committee for Wednesday, January 28 at 1 p.m.” in Room 209 of the Cross Building, located directly next to the State House.
