Are Nicotine Pouches Legal in Missouri? (2026)

Instrument

Executive Order 24-10 -- directing DHSS to designate foods containing unregulated psychoactive cannabis products as coming from an unapproved food source / containing an unapproved food additive, and to embargo and condemn such foods; directing Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control to prohibit sale on liquor-licensed premises

Source

https://www.sos.mo.gov/library/reference/orders/2024/eo10

Retrieved

2026-07-02

Fingerprint

40421b2949322e51

EXECUTIVE ORDER 24-10

WHEREAS, there are currently no safety standards, packaging requirements, or other regulations related to the safety of consuming unregulated psychoactive cannabis products in Missouri; and

WHEREAS, unregulated psychoactive cannabis products include delta-8 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), delta-10 THC, hexahydrocannabinol (HHC), tetrahydrocannabinol (THC-O), tetrahydrocannabiphoral (THCP), tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV), and other similar compounds; and

WHEREAS, numerous Missourians have been negatively impacted by the consumption of foods with unregulated psychoactive cannabis products added to them; and

WHEREAS, Missouri children, and children across the nation, have been hospitalized due to consuming unregulated psychoactive cannabis products; and

WHEREAS, additional actions must be taken to protect consumers, including children, from the sale of foods that include unregulated psychoactive cannabis products; and

WHEREAS, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) is tasked with ensuring the protection of the public when it comes to food under Chapter 196, RSMo; and

WHEREAS, the DHSS is tasked with promulgating regulations that conform, insofar as practicable, with those promulgated under federal acts under Section 196.045, RSMo; and

WHEREAS, state law currently prohibits the sale of foods that are adulterated or misbranded under Section 196.015, RSMo; and

WHEREAS, the DHSS has promulgated rules and a Food Code under Section 196.045, RSMo, which align with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA); and

WHEREAS, the FDA and the Missouri Food Code require that all food come from approved sources; and

WHEREAS, the FDA and the Missouri Food Code require that food that is not from an approved source shall be discarded; and

WHEREAS, the FDA and the Missouri Food Code require that food additives must be approved food additives or come from approved food sources; and

WHEREAS, there is no unregulated psychoactive cannabis product that has been approved by the FDA as a food additive; and

WHEREAS, the FDA has stated that food additives must receive premarket approval, and the failure to obtain premarket approval causes the food to be marked as adulterated by the FDA; and

WHEREAS, Section 311.660, RSMo, provides the Missouri Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control within the Missouri Department of Public Safety with the statutory authority to enforce Missouri's alcohol and tobacco laws and regulations to ensure a safe environment for citizens of Missouri; and

WHEREAS, Missouri regulations currently prohibit the sale of controlled substances on liquor-licensed premises, but are silent on the sale of other unregulated psychoactive cannabis products.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, MICHAEL L. PARSON, GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI, by virtue and authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the State of Missouri, do hereby order the DHSS, beginning on September 1, 2024, to designate foods containing unregulated psychoactive cannabis products as foods that come from an unapproved food source or as foods that contain an unapproved food additive that comes from an unapproved food source as set forth in the 2022 FDA Food Code and the 2013 Missouri Food Code, or revisions of said codes. Additionally, the DHSS is to find foods that contain unregulated psychoactive cannabis products are deleterious, poisonous, and adulterated under Sections 196.070, RSMo, and 196.085, RSMo, and to take the necessary steps in accordance with statute and regulation to embargo and condemn any food containing unregulated psychoactive cannabis products. These provisions do not apply to products under the control or purview of the Division of Cannabis Regulation under Article XIV of the Missouri Constitution as long as all psychoactive cannabinoids in those products are sourced from establishments licensed under Article XIV of the Missouri Constitution.

I further direct the DHSS to produce and distribute information regarding how the DHSS will regulate products consistent with this Executive Order.

I further direct the Missouri Division of Alcohol and Tobacco Control to amend its regulations such that unregulated psychoactive cannabis products are prohibited from being sold on the premises of a liquor-licensed facility.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused to be affixed the Great Seal of the State of Missouri, in the City of Jefferson, on this 1st day of August, 2024.

MICHAEL L. PARSON, GOVERNOR

ATTEST: JOHN R. ASHCROFT, SECRETARY OF STATE

Instrument

Alternative nicotine products and vapor products: definitions, sale to minors, license

Source

https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=407.926

Retrieved

2026-11-06

Fingerprint

ccc2724d9eaa3c99

407.925
“Alternative nicotine product”
, any noncombustible product containing nicotine that is intended for human consumption, whether chewed, absorbed, dissolved, or ingested by any other means.  Alternative nicotine product does not include any vapor product, tobacco product or any product regulated as a drug or device by the United States Food and Drug Administration under Chapter V of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act;
“Tobacco products”
, any substance containing tobacco leaf, including, but not limited to, cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco, snuff, chewing tobacco, or dipping tobacco but does not include alternative nicotine products, or vapor products;
"Vapor product"
, any noncombustible product containing nicotine that employs a heating element, power source, electronic circuit, or other electronic, chemical or mechanical means, regardless of shape or size, that can be used to produce vapor from nicotine in a solution or other form.  Vapor product includes any electronic cigarette, electronic cigar, electronic cigarillo, electronic pipe, or similar product or device and any vapor cartridge or other container of nicotine in a solution or other form that is intended to be used with or in an electronic cigarette, electronic cigar, electronic cigarillo, electronic pipe, or similar product or device.  Vapor product does not include any alternative nicotine product or tobacco product;

407.926. No tobacco sales to minors — penalties — alternative nicotine products and vapor products, sale to minors prohibited — nicotine liquid containers, requirements, penalty. —
1.  Any person or entity who sells tobacco products, alternative nicotine products, or vapor products shall deny the sale of such tobacco products to any person who is less than eighteen years of age.

  2.  Any person or entity who sells or distributes tobacco products, alternative nicotine products, or vapor products by mail or through the internet in this state in violation of subsection 1 of this section shall be assessed a fine of two hundred fifty dollars for the first violation and five hundred dollars for each subsequent violation.

  3.  Alternative nicotine products and vapor products shall only be sold to persons eighteen years of age or older, shall be subject to local and state sales tax, but shall not be otherwise taxed or regulated as tobacco products.

  4.  (1)  Any nicotine liquid container that is sold at retail in this state shall satisfy the child-resistant effectiveness standards set forth in 16 CFR 1700.15(b) as in effect on August 28, 2015, when tested in accordance with the method described in 16 CFR 1700.20 as in effect on August 28, 2015.

  (2)  For the purposes of this subsection,
“nicotine liquid container”
 shall mean a bottle or other container of liquid or other substance containing nicotine if the liquid or substance is sold, marketed, or intended for use in a vapor product.  A “nicotine liquid container” shall not include a liquid or other substance containing nicotine in a cartridge that is sold, marketed, or intended for use in a vapor product, provided that such cartridge is prefilled and sealed by the manufacturer and not intended to be opened by the consumer.

  (3)  Any person who engages in retail sales of liquid nicotine containers in this state in violation of this subsection shall be assessed a fine of two hundred fifty dollars for the first violation and five hundred dollars for each subsequent violation.

  (4)  The department of health and senior services may adopt rules necessary to carry out the provisions of this subsection.  Any rule or portion of a rule, as that term is defined in section
536.010
, that is created under the authority delegated in this section shall become effective only if it complies with and is subject to all of the provisions of
chapter 536
 and, if applicable, section
536.028
.  This section and
chapter 536
 are nonseverable and if any of the powers vested with the general assembly under
chapter 536
 to review, to delay the effective date, or to disapprove and annul a rule are subsequently held unconstitutional, then the grant of rulemaking authority and any rule proposed or adopted after August 28, 2015, shall be invalid and void.

  (5)  The provisions of this subsection and any rules adopted hereunder shall be null, void, and of no force and effect upon the effective date of the final regulations issued by the federal Food and Drug Administration or from any other federal agency if such regulations mandate child-resistant effectiveness standards for nicotine liquid containers.

407.934. No person shall sell cigarettes, tobacco products, alternative nicotine products, or vapor products unless the person has a retail sales tax license.