HQ Team
August 29, 2024: The US drug regulator raised the age limit of people who want to buy tobacco products by three years to 30, and retailers must verify people buying such products, including e-cigarettes, with photo identification.
The Food and Drug Administration announced a final rule on both counts and it will be enforced starting September 30, according to a statement from the agency. Previously, the tobacco buying requirement applied to anyone under the age of 27.
Retailers must now request and examine photo IDs to verify the age of anyone under 30.
This requirement is regardless of appearance, as research has shown that it is difficult for retailers to accurately determine the age of a customer from appearance alone, according to the statement.
Underage tobacco sales
“These requirements are in line with legislation signed in December 2019 that immediately raised the federal minimum age of sale of tobacco products in the United States from 18 to 21 years of age,” it stated. Once implemented, the requirements are expected to help decrease underage tobacco sales.
Starting September 30, retailers will not be able to sell tobacco products through vending machines in facilities where individuals under 21 are present or permitted to enter at any time.
Previously, this prohibition applied to facilities where individuals under 18 were present or permitted to enter at any time.
These changes aim to maximize the public health impact of the original December 2019 legislation.
‘Disease and death’
“Today’s rule is another key step toward protecting our nation’s youth from the health risks of tobacco products,” said Brian King, PhD, MPH, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products.
“Decades of science have shown that keeping tobacco products away from youth is critical to reducing the number of people who ultimately become addicted to these products and suffer from tobacco-related disease and death.”
The Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, signed into law on December 20, 2019, increased the federal minimum age for the sale of tobacco products from 18 to 21 across the US.
Since then, it has been illegal to sell tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, to anyone under 21 years of age. The law also directed the FDA to take action on increasing the age of certain requirements for tobacco product sales.
First cigarette by age 21
More than 95% of U.S. adults who smoke daily smoked their first cigarette by the age of 21. Tobacco kills more than 8 million people each year, including an estimated 1.3 million non-smokers who are exposed to second-hand smoke, according to the WHO.
To date, the FDA has conducted more than 1.5 million compliance checks of tobacco retailers to ensure compliance with federal age restrictions.
These inspections have resulted in 134,000 warning letters, more than 33,000 civil money penalties and 230 no-tobacco-sale orders for violations related to federal age restrictions.
The agency also continues to provide retailers with resources to improve compliance with tobacco laws and regulations, including the age of sale restrictions.
