Tobacco buyers under 30 should expect to show ID under new FDA rule

The US Food and Drug Administration is instituting a rule that will require any retailer that sells tobacco products to check the identification of any tobacco buyers under the age of 30, up from the previous age limit of 27.

The agency announced Thursday that its final rule also restricts tobacco vending machine sales to spaces that are limited to people 21 and older.

The agency said the main goal of the changes is to make it more difficult for underage people to get access to these products.

About 250 children become smokers every day, according to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.

Studies show that 9 out of 10 adults who smoke daily reported having their first cigarette by age 18. The federal age limit for tobacco purchases was 18 until 2019, when it was raised to 21.

The FDA says the other reason for its latest change is because it’s often difficult for retailers to tell someone’s age just by looking at them.

“Today’s rule is another key step towards protecting our nation’s youth from the health risks of tobacco products,” said Dr. Brian King, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products. “Decades of science has 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.”

Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the country, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, even though a 2023 Gallup poll found that the number of people who smoked cigarettes reached record lows.

The new restrictions apply to sales of traditional tobacco products as well as newer ones like e-cigarettes, which are most popular among underage smokers. Although the number of children using e-cigarettes has started to decline over the past five years, 1 out of 10 high schoolers report using an e-cigarette in the previous 30 days. For middle schoolers, that number was 1 in 22, according to the CDC.

One step toward curbing the number of young tobacco users that the FDA has not undertaken is a ban on menthol and flavored cigar products. Flavors, including menthol, are considered a real attraction for kids who start using tobacco products.

The FDA has been looking into menthol and flavored cigar restrictions for more than a decade, but amid intense lobbying from tobacco companies, those restrictions have been waiting for signoff from the Biden White House for months.

The agency says the new ID and vending machine limits will go into effect September 30.

The FDA said it will also continue compliance checks to make sure businesses aren’t selling to underage tobacco users. To date, it has done 1.5 million such checks, and these inspections have resulted in 130,000 warning letters, at least 33,000 financial penalties and more than 200 “no tobacco sale” orders for stores that have violated age restrictions.

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