Since October 1, two Alabama laws apply to e-cigarettes. Vaping is now treated as smoking under the state's Clean Indoor Air Act, and nicotine-containing e-liquids carry a new excise tax of 10 cents per milliliter, collected at the wholesale level.
Vaping becomes “smoking”
The first text, Senate Bill 9, sponsored by Republican Senator Gerald Allen, does not create a separate regime for e-cigarettes. It rewrites the definition of “smoking” in the 2003 Clean Indoor Air Act so that it now covers, alongside lit tobacco products, “the use of an electronic nicotine delivery system”. The bill passed the Senate on January 29, was amended and passed by the House on April 9, and became law on April 15, 2026 as Act 2026-505.
According to the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH), vaping is therefore banned wherever smoking already was: enclosed places open to the public such as restaurants, retail stores, workplaces, hospitals, nursing homes, educational facilities, libraries, courtrooms, shopping malls, sports facilities, airports, banks and government buildings. The ban also covers public meetings and public conveyances such as buses, taxis and trains. Private residences remain outside the scope of the law.
The statute has also been renamed the Vivian Davis Figures and Barbara Drummond Clean Indoor Air Act, after two Democratic lawmakers from Mobile. Representative Drummond’s name was added by a House amendment. ADPH has asked covered businesses to update their policies and signage, with State Health Officer Scott Harris presenting the law as a step toward “smoke and vape-free environments across the state.”
Old exemptions, new scope
Because SB 9 only amends the definitions section, the exceptions written into the 2003 law were left untouched, and they now apply to vaping as well. Under Section 22-15A-4 of the Code of Alabama, the prohibition does not apply to bars and lounges, retail tobacco stores and tobacco businesses, limousines under private hire, or hotel and motel rooms not designated as non-smoking. Section 22-15A-6 also allows the person in charge of a public place to designate a smoking area, subject to conditions.
The text does not specify whether vape shops qualify as “retail tobacco stores and tobacco businesses”, and ADPH’s public guidance on the new law does not address the question.
A broader reading than the text
On its tobacco laws page, ADPH states that the ban applies whether the e-liquid contains nicotine, THC or another substance. The statute, however, relies on the definition of an electronic nicotine delivery system in Section 28-11-2 of the Code, which, in its current wording, describes a device producing a vapor that delivers nicotine, and defines an e-liquid as a liquid that contains nicotine. How enforcement would handle devices used without nicotine remains to be seen.
Fines
Smoking, and now vaping, in a covered public place carries a scheduled fine of $25 per violation. Under ADPH’s administrative rules, persons in charge of a covered venue who fail to comply can also be assessed civil penalties, capped at $50 for a first violation and rising for repeat violations.
A tax by the milliliter
The second text, House Bill 529, sponsored by Republican Representative David Faulkner, was enacted in 2025 as Act 2025-377. Most of its provisions took effect on October 1, 2025, but its excise tax only kicked in on October 1, 2026.
The Alabama Department of Revenue (ALDOR) describes a levy of $0.10 per milliliter on all consumable vapor products sold at wholesale or imported into the state for use, consumption or retail sale. The tax is legally levied on the end consumer, with the wholesaler acting as the state’s collection agent. It does not apply to sales between licensed wholesalers or to documented exports, and it comes on top of existing taxes, including the state sales tax.
Its scope follows the definition of a “consumable vapor product” in Section 40-23-1 of the Code: any nicotine liquid solution or other nicotine-containing material that is depleted when used in a vapor product. Nicotine-free liquids therefore fall outside the tax.
In practice, the levy amounts to about 20 cents on a 2 ml pod, $1 on a 10 ml bottle and $6 on a 60 ml bottle. Because it is based on volume rather than nicotine content, it weighs more heavily on users of open systems who consume larger volumes of lower-strength liquid than on users of small, high-concentration pods.
Who collects, and how
According to ALDOR, wholesalers and registered retailers that sell consumable vapor products are responsible for collecting and remitting the tax and must hold a Vapor Products Tax License. Registration opened on October 1 through the My Alabama Taxes portal, with no registration fee. Once a registration is approved, ALDOR mails a registration letter setting out reporting requirements, and the license separately.
Returns are due by the 20th of each month for the previous month’s activity. A 4.75% discount applies to returns and payments filed on time, but is disallowed if the full amount is not paid by the deadline. Consumable vapor products must also be included on the Sales for Resale Report, known as the WRAP report.
Act 2025-377 backs these obligations with penalties. Selling without a license exposes businesses to ALDOR penalties, while failing to file required reports or keep records is a Class B misdemeanor, each month of non-compliance counting as a separate offense.
Purchase invoices must be kept on site for 90 days and retained for three years. The act also lets the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board or any law enforcement officer confiscate and destroy products held by sellers lacking the required state permit, for which the same law introduced a $150 annual fee per location. The legislative fiscal note puts the new fines between $100 and $1,000.
Where the money goes
After ALDOR retains its administrative costs, proceeds are distributed quarterly: 50% to the State General Fund, 25% to counties and 25% to municipalities, both on a population basis.
Under an earlier ALDOR notice, local vapor taxes enacted on or before October 1, 2025 remain in force, but the counties and cities that levy them are excluded from the distribution, and no new local tax or license fee on these products may be created.
The fiscal note does not put a figure on expected revenue, describing it as undetermined. For reference, vaping products generated about $3.8 million in state sales tax collections in fiscal year 2025, according to ALDOR’s annual report.