Fairfield Smoke Shop Fined For Selling Tobacco/Vape Products To Minors

FAIRFIELD, CT ? A Fairfield smoke shop was recently fined $300 by the state after Fairfield police said the shop failed a compliance check for selling tobacco/vape products to minors.

Puff City, formerly known as the Rose Smoke & Vape Shop at 2035 Black Rock Turnpike, was one of 15 Fairfield retailers that sell tobacco products that was checked on Oct. 20, according to Cathy Hazlett, MPH ? Program Director, of Fairfield Cares Community Coalition.

Fairfield police enlisted "two youth decoys" for the compliance checks, in which the teens were sent to the shops to see if they could buy tobacco/vape products without being asked for identification.

Of the 15 stores checked, Puff City was the only one to fail, according to Hazlett.

"The Fairfield Police had closed the Rose Smoke Shop due to selling to youth," Hazlett said in a statement, and thanked the department for its efforts. "It is hoped that Puff City will properly train their employees to check IDs, learn how to identify a fake ID, and not sell to anyone under the age of 21."

The 14 shops that successfully passed the compliance checks were:

1. Five-O-Foods, 1539 Black Rock Turnpike

2. Euphoria Cigar & Hookah Lounge, 1563 Black Rock Turnpike

3. Mobil On-The-Run, 2120 Black Rock Turnpike

4. Swift Mart, 2405 Black Rock Turnpike

5. Shell Food Mart, 2424 Black Rock Turnpike

6. Wheels at Citgo, 2515 Black Rock Turnpike

7. Swift Mart, Gulf, 714 Brooklawn Ave.

8. Wheels at Citgo, 1096 Post Road

9. Cumberland Farms, 1101 Post Road

10. Buck Stop Shell, 1139 Post Road

11. Cigar and Vape Shop, 1700 Post Road

12. Wheels at Citgo, 2047 Post Road

13. Post Road Gasoline at Mobile, 2093 Post Road

14. Mohegan Smoke Shop, 525 Tunxis Hill Cut Off

Though the checks occurred in October, Hazlett told Patch that the information was only recently passed along to her, leading to Monday's release.

"It's worth putting the information out there, so people know how the Fairfield police are helping to prevent youth access to vapes and that the retailers (most of them) are doing their part to prevent youth from vaping but adhering to the laws and carefully checking IDs," she said in an email to Patch.

According to a 2023 Fairfield Youth Survey, 28 percent of Fairfield students in grades 7 through 12 "who have ever vaped reported that they sometimes or frequently buy their vape devices from a tobacco/vape retailer located in Fairfield."

Fairfield police periodically conduct compliance checks to be sure that tobacco/vape retailers are in compliance with laws that prohibit the sale of such products to anyone under the age of 21. Similar compliance checks are also conducted to ensure that alcohol retailers also do not sell to minors.

"Vaping is not safer than smoking cigarettes," Hazlett said. "Vaping is another means of ingesting nicotine, one of the most addictive substances, along with a host of toxic chemicals that can cause lung disease and cancer. Unfortunately, the vapes many young people use have flavored nicotine (fruit, candy, or dessert flavors) that often have significantly more nicotine than a pack of cigarettes!"