The legal age to purchase and smoke tobacco products in the United States will likely change in 2020, increasing from 18 to 21, thanks to a new law passed by Congress on Thursday. The law includes cigarettes, e-cigarettes and all other tobacco products, such as chewing tobacco. The provision was part of a year-end spending bill, and President Trump is expected to sign the bill into law. If signed, the age increase will go into effect in about nine months.
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For some states, the increase isn’t new — 16 states across the U.S. previously changed tobacco age requirements to 21, including Hawaii, California and New Jersey. With the growth of the vaping epidemic, hopes are that the age increase will help prevent more children and young adults from getting hooked on nicotine.
Children as young as 11 are becoming addicted to high levels of nicotine found in Juul e-cigarettes, but their age prevents the use of many of the quit-smoking products on the market today, leaving parents, physicians and addicts without treatment options. Many teens believe vaping is relatively harmless and better than smoking traditional combustible cigarettes — in part, thanks to Juul’s marketing campaigns, targeted at young adults. This belief increases a teen’s risk of vaping, which in turn increases the risk they move to combustible cigarettes and develop other addictive behaviors.
Every tobacco product is high-risk, but the belief that vaping is a safe alternative to cigarettes and other tobacco products has played a key role in the vaping epidemic at hand today. Conventional, combustible cigarettes contain thousands of toxic chemicals and are responsible for nearly $300 billion in direct and indirect health care costs, but e-cigs are not a solution as they also carry significant health risks.