Maryland Premium Cigar Lounge License Bill Reintroduced With Changes

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Maryland Premium Cigar Lounge License Bill Reintroduced With Changes

February 5, 2026 - Charlie Minato

Proposed legislation reintroduced in Maryland would create a new license for cigar lounges operating in the state, which could clear up inconsistent laws relating to whether customers can consume alcohol in a cigar lounge. However, there are some potential complications to the bills if they were to become law.

In 2024, the Maryland Department of Health was directed to establish a workgroup to study issuing alcoholic beverage licenses to tobacconists. That spurned proposed legislation in the 2025 session that would have addressed the issue head-on, though it did not pass.

Now, the legislation is back for the 2026 session, albeit with some changes.

Currently, the state’ Clean Indoor Air Act says that a business whose “primary activity is the retail sale of tobacco products and accessories; and the sale of other products is incidental” is not subject to the state’s ban on indoor smoking.

H.B. 766 and S.B. 623 would remove “is incidental” and replace it with a limit that the business could not generate more than 30 percent of its gross revenue from the sale of “other products.” While this does not redefine the requirements for a “licensed tobacconist”, a definition that currently does not have a specific sales quota, it does create a line of demarcation for which shops would be able to allow indoor smoking.

However, the bill’s main goal is the creation of a new Class C-Premium Cigar Lounge license.

That license will allow customers to bring and consume their own liquor from 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. in the lounge. In addition to the $100 annual license, retailers would need to have at least one employee certified in an alcohol awareness program, have building plans that show “sufficient air filtration and exhaust,” generate at least 70 percent of its revenue from “premium cigars, pipe tobacco, and related accessories,” and have all of its employees acknowledge that they will be subject to secondhand smoke. Many retailers in Maryland already advertise their shops as BYOB, this bill would aim to clear up any potential licensing liabilities.

There are some restrictions on which retailers would be able to get a license.

First, any retailer located “adjacent to a licensed health care facility or licensed child care facility” would not be eligible.

Second, county clerks would be limited to issuing one license per 150,000 residents. If there are fewer than 150,000 residents, one license can be issued.

Maryland has 23 counties; 13 have a population under 150,000 people, meaning there could be just one license issued for those counties. Montgomery County is the state’s most populous county; based on its 2024 population, it could have eight available licenses.

A similar version of this legislation was introduced in 2025, but there were some notable differences:

• The 2025 version would have grandfathered existing cigar lounges. It appears this language was added after the bill was introduced.
• The 2025 version didn’t create the 70 percent threshold to be exempted from the Clean Indoor Air Act
• The license would have been $2,000 instead of $100

Glynn Loope, director of state advocacy for the Premium Cigar Association, submitted a letter supporting the legislation, saying that it would clear up inconsistent enforcement of the state’s liquor laws.

“Although current law permits Maryland tobacconists to apply for alcohol licenses, county regulation of existing lounges has been inconsistent,” wrote Loope. “A statewide license would provide regulatory clarity and uniformity for a limited number of new lounges. ”

The Maryland Department of Health, anti-smoking groups and the Restaurant Association of Maryland all opposed the legislation, which garnered six co-sponsors between the two legislative bodies and did not make it out of committee.

Both the 2025 and 2026 versions of the proposed legislation were introduced by Del. Andre Johnson, Jr., D-Hartford County, and Sen. Ron Watson, D-Prince George’s County. Combined, the two 2026 bills have three co-sponsors.

Source: https://halfwheel.com/maryland-premium-cigar-lounge-license-bill-reintroduced-with-changes/461930/