Village of Roscoe creates Tobacco Retailer License - but will issue only two Class B licenses
But Class A licenses, for businesses who mostly sell other products, would be more common.
The Village of Roscoe approved a new ordinance at its Nov. 18, 2025 meeting that would require a license for the sale of "Tobacco Products, Alternative Nicotine Products, Electronic Cigarettes, Tobacco Accessories or Smoking Herbs." Village Attorney Tom Green says, "This should cover hemp products sold in flower form or liquid form."
Trustees want to limit the number of businesses selling these products. Only two Class B licenses will be allowed, at $500 a year, for businesses that make most of their revenue from these products. Currently three such businesses have Roscoe addresses, but one of them is in the Village of Rockton.
Any Roscoe business that sells tobacco at all will be required to get a Class A license, with an annual fee of $200. The trusteees say one of their goals is "reducing the number of individuals of all ages who use tobacco products, alternative nicotine products, and electronic cigarettes," with a "particular interest in protecting adolescents." The law prohibits their sale to anyone under age 21.
As Village Administrator Josef Kurlinkus wrote in an October 2025 memo [PDF] to the board, "Creating a local retail tobacco license—similar to the Village’s existing liquor licensing framework—would allow the Village to place accountability directly on the retail establishment rather than only the employee, establish harsher penalties, including suspension or revocation of the license, for violations, require documented training programs for retail employees, [and] provide stronger tools for enforcement to discourage sales to minors."
A 2025 Winnebago County Health Department Community Status Assessment [PDF] reported, "From 2018 to 2021 adult smoking rates in Winnebago County were consistently higher than Illinois and U.S. In 2021 the percentage of adults who smoked in Winnebago County was 18.2% which was higher than the Illinois percentage of 12.3% and U.S. 14.4%."
Kurlinkus notes, "In the 2020 Illinois Youth Survey, 6% of 8th graders, 14% of 10th graders, and 17% of 12th graders in Winnebago County reported recent use of e-cigarettes or vaping products."
The ordinance defines "Smoking Herbs" as "all substances of plant origin and their derivatives, including but not limited to broom, calea, California poppy, damiana, hops, ginseng, lobelia, jimson weed and other members of the Datura genus, passion flower and wild lettuce, which are processed or sold primarily for use as smoking materials." Cannibis products are covered under another law.
