This post is largely lifted straight from a recent Ballotpedia newsletter. It has been a while since we re-shared one of these round ups but it is always interesting to look at federal vs state legislation, so we couldn’t help but share. To learn more about this topic, including a list of all relevant legislation by state, take a deep dive on Ballotpedia here
Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Tim Kaine (D-Va.) introduced a bill last month that would increase the federal minimum age from 18 to 21 to purchase or use tobacco products. The bill would also raise the minimum age to purchase e-cigarettes and would not prevent states and municipalities from passing more restrictive laws. The proposed legislation also requires states to pass laws raising their minimum age to purchase tobacco to 21 by 2021 as a condition for receiving federal substance abuse grants.
Given the national attention to the issue, we wondered what the legal landscape looked like for state tobacco laws. Our team put together a 50-state comparison page. Here are three quick hits.
- The minimum age to purchase or use of tobacco is currently 21 in six states—California, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon.
- In three states—Alabama, Alaska, Utah—one must be 19 to purchase tobacco. The other 41 states have a minimum smoking age of 18.
- Governor David Ige (D) signed legislation in June 2015 raising the minimum age to purchase tobacco in Hawaii to 21, making it the first state to do so in the 21st century. Since then, five other states have increased their smoking age to 21. Eight states have enacted similar legislation that has not yet taken effect.
New Jersey was the first state to restrict the sale and use of tobacco by age, setting a minimum age of 16 in 1883. By 1920, 46 of the 48 states had an age requirement for tobacco sales, including 14 with a minimum age of 21. During the period between the world wars, state laws generally lowered the minimum age to 18. The federal law setting a minimum age of 18 to purchase tobacco—the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act—was adopted in 2009.
The bills:
US S1541 A bill to increase the minimum age for sale of tobacco products to 21.
US HR2411 Tobacco to 21 Act
Thanks again to Ballotpedia and don’t forget you can read more about this topic on Ballotpedia here