Guide
The Sign a Tobacco Vending Machine Has to Carry
Two states, two different rules, and in both the wording is not left to the operator.
New Mexico requires a retailer to prominently display, where tobacco products are sold and where a tobacco product vending machine is located, a printed sign or decal reading exactly: “IT IS ILLEGAL FOR A PERSON UNDER 21 YEARS OF AGE TO PURCHASE TOBACCO PRODUCTS.” (§ 61-37-17). Arizona instead sets a size — at least eighty square inches, block letters, on the front of the machine — and attaches a fine of up to $300 (A.R.S. § 36-798.02(B)).
New Mexico: the wording is prescribed
Section 61-37-17 does not describe the sign, it dictates it:
A retailer shall prominently display in the place where tobacco products are sold and where a tobacco product vending machine is located a printed sign or decal that reads as follows: “IT IS ILLEGAL FOR A PERSON UNDER 21 YEARS OF AGE TO PURCHASE TOBACCO PRODUCTS.”
Note the two places: where products are sold and where the machine is located. In a venue whose only tobacco is the machine, those are the same spot. The statute does not set a size for the New Mexico sign, but “prominently display” is doing work — a decal behind the unit or below knee height is not a prominent display.
Arizona: the size is prescribed
Arizona takes the opposite approach. A.R.S. § 36-798.02(B) requires a sign of at least eighty square inches affixed to the front of each machine, in block letters, stating that purchase by anyone under twenty-one is illegal and that a fine of up to $300 may be imposed on conviction. Eighty square inches is roughly nine inches by nine.
Arizona also expressly allows a county, city or town to require different wording, which New Mexico does not do in the same terms. Arizona's rules in full →
Who puts it up
Both statutes put the duty on the retailer — the licensed seller — not on the property owner as such. In a managed arrangement where the operator is the seller, the sign is the operator's to supply, fit and keep legible. That is worth confirming in writing, because an inspector looking at a machine without its sign is looking at the machine, not at the paperwork.
What a venue should check
- The sign is present, on or immediately at the machine, and readable from where a guest stands.
- The wording matches the statute for the state you are in, character for character in New Mexico.
- It has not been covered by a poster, a coat rack, a menu board or seasonal decoration.
- It is replaced when it fades, peels or is torn off.
- The agreement says whose job all of the above is.
How Afterwrk handles it
Afterwrk is the seller in its arrangements, so the required signage is Afterwrk's to supply and maintain as part of servicing the machine. It is checked on every visit along with stock and the card reader.
Last reviewed . A person rechecks the sources before this date changes.
Common questions
Does New Mexico set a minimum size for the sign?
The statute requires prominent display but does not state a size. Arizona does: at least eighty square inches.
Can the wording be paraphrased?
New Mexico quotes the sentence in the statute. Reproducing it exactly is the safe reading.
Is one sign enough if the machine is the only tobacco in the venue?
Section 61-37-17 requires display where products are sold and where the machine is located. Where those are the same place, one prominent sign covers both.
See whether your venue qualifies
The assessment applies everything on this page to your actual address.