District of Columbia
Limited or unsettledSnapshot for general information only — not legal advice. Statewide regulatory detail below is drawn primarily from the Public Health Law Center 50-state review (as of June 15, 2025). Flavor categories and local highlights also use Truth Initiative (Q1 2026), CTFK (May 2026), Tax Foundation (2026), and the PHLC flavored-tobacco chart (June 2026). Always check current statutes.
Flavor / sales restrictions (statewide)
D.C. prohibits sale of flavored tobacco products (including characterizing flavors/menthol in the flavored-tobacco definition), with an on-site hookah exception for certain grandfathered hookah bars (D.C. Code § 7–1721.08; PHLC June 2026). Not a clean statewide-style e-cigarette-only chart entry—see full D.C. page.
Local city / county rules
D.C. restricts flavored tobacco products with a hookah-bar grandfathering exception; not a U.S. state but mapped here.
- District-wide: sale of flavored tobacco products prohibited, with on-site hookah exception for hookah bars doing business as of September 30, 2021 (D.C. Code § 7–1721.08; PHLC June 2026; Truth Initiative notes DC among e-cigarette/buffer policies).
Tax
Map summary: 64% of wholesale
Vapor products taxed at 79% of wholesale price.
D.C. Code § 47-2402.01(a)(1)(C) (2025);
Facts & Figures: How Does Your State Compare? 2024, Tax Found. 39 (Table 25)
Youth access / retail restrictions
Sale of electronic smoking devices to persons under age 21 is prohibited.
D.C. Code § 7-1721.02(a) (2025)
Purchase/possession of electronic smoking devices by persons under age 21 prohibited.
D.C. Code § 7-1721.03(a)(1) (2025)
Self-service sales of electronic smoking devices prohibited, except in tobacco specialty stores.
D.C. Code § 7-1721.04(a), (b)(2) (2025)
Vending machine sales of electronic smoking devices restricted to establishments inaccessible to persons under age 21 and taverns, nightclubs, and restaurants licensed to serve alcohol.
D.C. Code §§ 7-1721.04(b)(1), 47-2404(b)(3) (2025)
Distribution of free electronic smoking devices prohibited on public streets, sidewalks, parks, playgrounds, buildings, or other public property, or private property open to the public (except at a tobacco specialty store, or adult-only conference or convention, so long as none are given to persons under age 21).
D.C. Code §§ 7-1731(a) (2025)
Sale of flavored electronic smoking devices prohibited.
D.C. Code § 7-1721.08(a)(1) (2025)
Sale of electronic smoking device within one quarter mile of any middle or high school prohibited.
D.C. Code § 7-1721.08(a)(2) (2025)
Retail license
Yes (manufacture, retail, wholesale, and vending).
D.C. Code § 47-2404(a) (2025)
Packaging
N/A
Delivery / online sales
See retail/youth access section and PHLC state review for delivery/online rules. Federal USPS mailing restrictions on vapes also apply.
Smoke-free / indoor use
Use of electronic smoking devices included in definition of “smoking” and prohibited in same spaces where smoking prohibited, including in workplaces and certain public places (such as enclosed public spaces, playgrounds, bus stops, and sporting events), with some exceptions.
D.C. Code §§ 7-1702(7), 7-741.01(4) (definitions of "smoking"), 7-741.02, 7-1703, 7-1708 (2025)
Use of electronic cigarettes on streetcar or streetcar platform prohibited.
D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 18, § 1605.2(c) (2025)
Use of electronic cigarettes prohibited on library property.
D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 19, § 810.6 (c)(5) (2025)
Use of e-cigarettes prohibited in cottage food business during operations.
D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 25, § 109.1(d) (2025)
Definition notes
Included in a “tobacco product” definition in at least one statute?
Yes.
D.C. Code §§ 47-2401(5A), 7-1702(8), 7-1721.01(1) (2025)
How the jurisdiction defines e-cigarettes / related terms (excerpts):
Tax and Youth Access
Vapor product means “(A) [a]ny non-lighting, noncombustible product that employs a mechanical heating element, battery, or electronic circuit, regardless of shape or size, that can be used to produce aerosol from nicotine in a solution; or (B) [a]ny vapor cartridge or other container of nicotine in a solution or other form that is intended to be used with or in an electronic cigarette, electronic cigar, electronic cigarillo, electronic pipe, or similar product or device.”
D.C. Code § 47-2401(9A) (2025)
Other tobacco product includes vapor product and “any product containing, made from, or derived from tobacco, other than a cigarette or premium cigar, that is intended or expected to be consumed.”
D.C. Code § 47-2401(5A) (2025)
Flavored tobacco product means “any tobacco product or synthetic nicotine product that imparts a characterizing flavor.”
D.C. Code § 7-1721.01(1B) (2025)
Use Restrictions
Electronic smoking device means “any product, including one composed of a heating element, battery, or electronic circuit, that contains or delivers nicotine or any other substance intended for human consumption that can be used by a person to simulate smoking through inhalation of vapor or aerosol from the product [including] any such product regardless of whether it is manufactured, distributed, marketed, or sold as an e-cigarette, e-cigar, e-pipe, e-hookah, vape pen, or by any other product name or descriptor.”
D.C. Code § 7-741.01(1) (2025)
Tobacco product means “any product that is made from or derived from tobacco and is intended for human consumption or is likely to be consumed, whether smoked, heated, chewed, absorbed, dissolved, inhaled, or ingested by any other means, including through a cigarette, a cigar, pipe tobacco, chewing tobacco, snuff, snus, smokeless tobacco, or an electronic smoking device [and including] any component or accessory used in the consumption of a tobacco product, such as filters, rolling papers, pipes, or liquids used in electronic smoking devices.”
D.C. Code §§ 7-1702(8), 7-1721.01(1) (2025)
Links
Public Health Law Center — District of Columbia 50-state review PHLC flavored tobacco sales chart (June 2026) Truth Initiative Q1 2026 CTFK localities fact sheet Tax Foundation vaping taxes FDA Tobacco 21
Page generated for the US Vape Laws Map project. Regulatory text excerpts © source publishers; compiled October 2026. Not legal advice. Federal rules also apply: 21+ sales age; ID checks under 30; only FDA-authorized e-cigarettes may lawfully be sold; USPS generally will not mail vapes.