The Behavioral Health Administration (BHA) has a contractual agreement with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)  to conduct Undercover Buy, Advertising and labeling, and other directed Inspections on behalf of the FDA of Maryland Licensed Tobacco Retailers to ensure their compliance with the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. The staff that perform these inspections are/must be FDA Commissioned Officers. The inspections are performed statewide (23 counties and Baltimore City). Inspections completed under this contract are submitted to the FDA for final review and enforcement action.  Violations may lead to Warning letters, Civil Money penalties and other enforcement actions.  Since FDA regulates all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, hookah tobacco, and cigars, retailers selling tobacco products must comply with all applicable federal laws and regulations.   The BHA Commissioned Officer inspections include inspecting all items in the link below that describes the Retailer Overview of FDA Regulations for Selling Tobacco Products:

https://www.fda.gov/TobaccoProducts/GuidanceComplianceRegulatoryInformation/Retail/default.htm​​