Age 21 is the law of the land – to buy tobacco products

Rhode Island and New Hampshire were the New England outliers in raising the legal age for purchase of tobacco products to 21. Year after year, Rep. Tanzi in Rhode Island, and others, including advocates of the American Lung Association, had submitted bills trying to accomplish the change, but they were repeatedly defeated.

President Trump, by attaching it to a large year-end spending legislative package was able to accomplish what so many had been working on for so long by a stroke of the pen. It had bi-partisan support. The increase takes effect immediately.

The normal accolades of the Democratic party and local health officials for such an accomplishment have been largely absent. A request for comment to the local Lung Association had no response. A cursory search of the RI Department of Health’s website showed no updated information and retailers have reported receiving no guidance on new sales regulations.

On the FDA website it states, “On December 20, 2019, the President signed legislation to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and raise the federal minimum age of sale of tobacco products from 18 to 21 years. It is now illegal for a retailer to sell any tobacco product – including cigarettes, cigars and e-cigarettes – to anyone under 21. FDA will provide additional details on this issue as they become available.”

The American Lung Association has advocated for increasing the age of sale for tobacco products from 18 to 21 because it will help save lives. In March 2015, a report from the National Academy of Medicine revealed that “Tobacco 21” could prevent 223,000 deaths among people born between 2000 and 2019, including reducing lung cancer deaths by 50,000. This landmark report provided the science to support our advocacy efforts.

How raising the sales age to 21 will make a difference:

• Virtually all (94 percent) of adult smokers had their first cigarette before turning 21, and most (81 percent) before age 18.
• Smokers aged 18 and 19 years old are often a supplier for younger kids who rely on friends, classmates and peers to buy tobacco products. Since students do not typically reach 21 years old while still in high school, increasing the age of sale would greatly reduce the number of high school students who could purchase tobacco products.
• Increasing the sales age for tobacco products to 21 will help counter the tobacco industry’s efforts to target young people at a critical time when many move from experimenting with tobacco to regular smoking.
• A national sales age of 21 for alcohol sales resulted in reduced alcohol consumption among youth, decreased alcohol dependence and has led to a dramatic reduction in drunk driving fatalities. It’s predicted that raising the national sales age for tobacco products will have similar effects.

Because this has happened so fast, retailers have yet to receive rules and regulations about this.  President Trump has also indicated that by mid-month he will sign more legislation regarding vaping products.