Morgan Fischer
Audio By Carbonatix
From cracking down on Labubu-shaped vapes to sending undercover teens into smoke shops, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes has made a point of cracking down on the sale of tobacco and nicotine products to minors. Statewide, Mayes’ office hit retailers with more than 450 citations last year doing just that. Nearly 14% of retailers across the state failed to pass inspections by Mayes’ office.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, the majority of citations were given out to just a few troublesome shops.
On Monday, Mayes’ office announced the results of “Operation Counter Strike,” which conducted nearly 1,900 inspections of tobacco retailers — including smoke shops, convenience stores, gas stations and grocery stores — across the Grand Canyon State. Criminal citations were issued to 451 clerks and businesses that failed to ID underage volunteers who help the office complete these checks by posing as buyers.
Such an offense can result in fines of up to $1,000. The Food and Drug Administration has the ability to levy “much larger fines” than what Arizona allows, Mayes’ spokesperson Richie Taylor said. Before the Attorney General’s Office fines businesses, employees and stores are “generally given warning letters, then offered diversion via training classes before fines are imposed,” Taylor added.
In 2024, when Mayes’ office conducted 2,000 inspections of Arizona nicotine retailers, 13% reesulted which resulted in an illegal sale. In a statement, the Attorney General’s office wrote the state’s failure rate “reveals persistent bad actors.”
“Selling tobacco and nicotine products to children is illegal, and my office will not look the other way,” Mayes wrote in a press release. “We’re going after the worst offenders, and we’re putting every retailer in Arizona on notice that they must follow the law.”
In July, Mayes filed lawsuits against two Valley smoke shops for consistently failing to post signage that an ID is legally required for a purchase and failing to check IDs to ensure buyers were 21 years old or older. One of those shops — Pro Source Shops, which has locations in Scottsdale and Glendale — settled its lawsuit with Mayes’ office earlier this year, agreeing to pay $460,000 and implement reforms. Mayes’ lawsuit against the other shop, New York Smoke Shop in Chandler, is still ongoing.
Those two retailers are far from the only ones in the Valley that failed compliance checks. On Monday, Mayes put several shops statewide on notice for demonstrating “a troubling pattern of selling tobacco to minors,” according to her office’s press release.
Here are the Valley shops that failed the most often.
Bob’s Vape and Smoke Shop in Phoenix
Address: 9014 W Thomas Road
Failure rate since 2021: 80%
Failed inspections since 2021: 4
Fines: $709 from the FDA, none from AG’s Office
This far West Phoenix smoke shop has failed four compliance inspections in the last five years for selling tobacco to minors, according to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office compliance data. The shop, near State Route 101 and Interstate 10, is just a few blocks away from the Talking Stick Resort Amphitheatre. Most recently, it failed an FDA inspection in September.
Reached by phone, an employee who identified himself only as Joseph acknowledged that the shop was cited but didn’t recall any further details. He passed along New Times’ request for comment to the owner, who did not respond.
Noah Smoke Shop in Phoenix
Address: 12416 N 28th Drive
Failure rate since 2022: 69%
Failed inspections since 2022: 11
Fines: $7,824 from the FDA, $223 from the AG’s Office
This north Phoenix smoke shop, located off Interstate 17 at Cactus Road, has been found in violation during an inspection 11 times in the last four years, according to the Attorney General’s Office compliance data. In the last year alone, the shop, located right across the street from the antique mall Brass Armadillo, failed three inspections — two from the AG in late January and mid-November, and another by the FDA in July.
However, in September, it passed an inspection by the Arizona Department of Revenue. When reached by phone, Noah Smoke Shop owner Aaron McKeever declined to comment.
Haus of Vapors in Paradise Valley
Address: 15030 N Tatum Boulevard
Failure rate since 2022: 67%
Failed inspections since 2022: 8
Fines: $21,811 from the FDA, none from the AG’s Office
This Paradise Valley-area smoke shop off Greenway Road and Tatum Boulevard has failed eight inspections in the last four years. In 2025, it failed two inspections by Mayes’ office, in February and August, and an FDA inspection in March.
An employee declined to comment to New Times over the phone, but relayed New Times’ request to the shop’s owner, who did not respond.
Gravitate Smoke Shop in Gilbert
Address: 183 E Williams Field Road
Failure rate since 2024: 67%
Failed inspections since 2024: 4
Fines: $694 from AG’s Office, none from FDA
Since February 2024, this south Gilbert smoke shop has failed four inspections from Mayes’ office. Located inside a shopping center at Williams Field Road and Gilbert Road, this shop failed one AG inspection in November 2025 but passed two others, one from AG in April and another from the FDA just two weeks later.
An employee declined to comment over the phone, telling New Times they “wouldn’t know anything about that,” but relayed New Times’ request to their manager, who did not respond.
