This law is officially called the Cigarette and Tobacco Products Licensing Act of 2003.

This section explains that California imposes taxes on cigarette and tobacco distribution to fund various programs. However, the state loses a lot of money due to illegal sales and distributions of these products. To address this, strict enforcement of tax laws and licensing requirements for manufacturers, importers, and sellers of tobacco products are necessary.

This law requires a regulatory board to manage a statewide licensing program for anyone involved in making, bringing in, selling, or distributing cigarettes and tobacco products, including manufacturers, importers, distributors, wholesalers, and retailers.

This section allows the board to establish a Tobacco Tax Compliance Task Force to provide advice on issues related to cigarette and tobacco tax compliance. The task force can include members from several specified organizations and agencies, including the Attorney General's office, the Franchise Tax Board, and federal agencies involved in fighting tax evasion. Other members can come from state health services, alcohol control, local law enforcement, other states working on tobacco tax efforts, and individuals who need licenses under this division.

This law section defines specific terms related to the regulation of cigarettes and tobacco products. It clarifies what is meant by 'brand family', 'cigarette', 'control', 'department', 'display for sale', and 'distributor', among other things. The 'control' involves significant influence over a person or business through voting rights or management. 'License' and 'licensee' refer to legal permissions granted to sell tobacco, while 'retailer' and 'retail location' concern where sales directly to the public occur. Also defined are 'unstamped package of cigarettes' which lack the necessary tax stamps, and 'gifting', which involves distributing tobacco without exchange. Lastly, it outlines entities like 'manufacturer', 'importer', 'wholesaler', and 'law enforcement agency' related to tobacco sales and regulations.

Starting January 1, 2006, the Bureau of State Audits must review how well the licensing and enforcement rules of this division are working. They're supposed to share their findings with the board and the Legislature by July 1, 2006. The audit will cover various areas including the actual costs and extra revenue generated by the program, tax compliance rates, enforcement costs, whether penalties are fair, and how effective the enforcement programs are overall.

This section means that the board is responsible for overseeing and making sure that the rules in this division are followed. They can also create and enforce new rules to help them do this.

This law says that, except for state tax collection rules, local governments can enforce their own tobacco control laws. They can also decide to suspend or revoke local licenses if someone violates state tobacco control laws.

This law says that if someone is protected from regulation by the U.S. Constitution, federal laws, or the California Constitution, they don't have to follow the rules in this specific part of the law.

If you need to send a notice according to this law, you can either mail it or deliver it in person. If you use the mail, put the notice in a sealed and stamped envelope and send it to the address on file. The notice is considered delivered as soon as you drop it in the mail, not when it actually arrives. If delivered in person, it's officially delivered when you hand it to the person. If the notice is for a corporation, you can give it to someone authorized to receive legal documents for the company.