The St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office will have more money this year to test whether stores sell tobacco and vapes to people under 21.
The St. Mary’s County Health Department raised its fiscal 2027 tobacco enforcement grant to the Sheriff’s Office from $25,000 to $31,221, a $6,221 increase. The Commissioners of St. Mary’s County approved the amended agreement and a matching budget amendment at their Oct. 6 meeting.
The money will pay for “additional tobacco sales enforcement activities, including compliance and follow-up checks related to youth under the age of 21,” county staff told the board. It is a revenue-only grant that helps offset enforcement costs. When one commissioner asked whether the county had to come up with the extra $6,000, staff said no: the grant brings that money in. Another commissioner called it a bonus.
How compliance checks work
In a compliance check, an underage volunteer working with deputies tries to buy tobacco or vape products. Maryland’s Tobacco 21 law, in effect since Oct. 1, 2019, bars sales of cigarettes, cigars, e-cigarettes, vape pods, e-liquids and their parts to anyone under 21. Active-duty service members ages 18 to 20 with a military ID are the exception, though stores may refuse them.
St. Mary’s is one of four Maryland counties where the clerk, the store owner or both can be cited for a sale to someone underage, according to the Healthy St. Mary’s Partnership. The Sheriff’s Office and the Health Department run the checks together, including random checks at cigar and vape lounges. People under 21 may enter a cigar lounge but cannot buy there.
Why the checks matter
Statewide, about one in five stores checked still sold to an underage buyer. In the most recent federal reporting year, October 2024 through September 2025, Maryland’s retailer violation rate was 19.3%: 121 of 628 completed inspections, according to the Maryland Department of Health’s annual report to the General Assembly. That is just under the 20% federal threshold states must stay below to keep certain substance-use treatment and prevention funding.
The St. Mary’s County Health Department’s VapeAware page says 15% of local middle and high school students currently use an electronic vaping product.
Retailers can find age-of-sale signs and free staff training at notobaccosalestominors.com. Residents with questions can call the Health Department at 301-475-4330.
