Lazaro Aleman
ECB Publishing, Inc.
Individuals under the age of 21 are now prohibited from buying tobacco products, as part of a sweeping $1.4 trillion spending bill that President Donald Trump recently signed into law.
The bipartisan bill, which the president signed on Friday, Dec. 21, contains several non-spending provisions, among them the increased age restriction for the purchase of tobacco products. The bill raises the legal age for the purchase of tobacco products from the current 18 to 21, a measure that both Democrats and Republicans reportedly applauded.
The action, which is being described as marking a major public health achievement for the administration, reportedly follows the lead of the several states that had already raised the tobacco-buying age to 21.
As of December, in fact, 19 states already had raised the age requirement, according to the nonprofit Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Florida, notably, is not among these states,
which include Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, NewYork, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.
Additionally, it is reported, Washington, DC, and more than 500 cities and towns across the nation have also raised the age for the purchase of tobacco products.
The restrictions come amid growing concerns about the growing number of young people who are vaping and a reported outbreak of vaping-related lung injuries. Not to mention pressure from health organizations to ban flavors that make vaping products more attractive to young people.
Monitoring the Future 2018, an annual survey conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan under a grant from the National Institutes of Health, found that one in four 12th graders, one in five 10th graders and nearly one in 10 eighth graders say they had vaped nicotine in the past month.