(a) The department shall furnish stamps for sale to licensees.
(b) The department may enter into agreements with financial institutions to permit the sale of stamps by those institutions. The department shall make a list of financial institutions authorized to sell stamps under this section available to the public.
(c) The department may limit the number of stamps sold to a licensee during the three months immediately preceding the effective date of a tax increase under AS 43.50.090, 43.50.190, or 43.50.200 to minimize the amount of cigarette stockpiling by a licensee. The department may not set the limit of stamps that a licensee may purchase during that three-month period below an amount equal to three times the average monthly stamp purchases made by the licensee during the 12-month period immediately preceding that three-month period.