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The US could see the legal smoking age raised to 21 as early as 2020 if the Trump administration will get behind this new provision.
Both the House and Senate have passed the provision already, which would raise the minimum age to purchase tobacco and e-cigarettes to 21, up from the federal age of 18.
While this isn’t going to be a change for the states already raising the limit, many critics are forced to wonder – is this government reach gone too far, or a good first step to protect teens who are vaping and hurting themselves?
You may not be aware if you don’t live in one, but nineteen US states have already started this process, imposing their own limits on the sale of tobacco and e-cigarette products.
In addition, more than 500 cities or towns made the call themselves to raise the legal age of purchase. All this changes for them is that they are now in line with federal guidelines, instead of being ahead of them.
The states that have already adopted this age restriction include Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Washington, among many others. Washington DC has also raised the age limit to 21.
The smoking age has been 18 federally for a long time. So why was it raised now, after all this time?
Much of it has to do with the backlash over e-cigarettes and flavored products, which has a tendency to appeal to a younger market. There was a lot of news earlier this year about teenagers purchasing illegal or black market oils for their vape that landed them in the hospital, so this is part of the answer.
The CDC said on Thursday of this week that 54 people have died and 2,506 cases of lung-related diseases have been reported as a direct cause of vaping THC-related products. While that isn’t a huge number when you consider how many people vape on a daily basis, it does show a growing and startling trend.
The House and Senate have both approved this provision, so now it is getting kicked up the Trump Administration for a final green light. If Trump signs it soon, we could see this go into effect as soon as next year.
And Trump is expected to adopt this. He has previously stated that he would like to ban flavored e-cigarette products, though he later retracted that statement, and has long supported a raise in the minimum age for purchase.
“This is a big win for public health,” Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii said of the provision. He proposed the federal age jump in 2015 after Hawaii themselves made the change. “Raising the minimum smoking and vaping age to 21 will protect our kids and save lives.”
