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The US Food and Drug Administration has announced that anyone who appears under the age of 30 will be required to show photo identification when purchasing tobacco products, raising the current age verification requirement by three years.
The rules, finalized Thursday, also state that retailers cannot sell tobacco products in vending machines in any area where anyone under the age of 21 is present or permitted to be present at any time. Previously, such vending machines were only allowed in areas where anyone under the age of 18 was permitted to be present.
The new rules, which are set to take effect on September 30, aim to further strengthen the federal government's efforts to prevent young people from accessing tobacco products.
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The US Food and Drug Administration has announced that people under the age of 30 will be required to show photo identification when purchasing tobacco products. (BSIP/Universal Image Group via Getty Images)
The United States has been trying to crack down on tobacco use in recent years due to health concerns associated with smoking and other products, and has sought to prevent e-cigarette use by minors.
“Today's rule is another important step to protect our nation's youth from the health risks of tobacco products,” Brian King, director of the FDA's Center for Tobacco Products, said in a news release.
“Decades of scientific research know that keeping tobacco products away from young people is key to reducing the number of people who ultimately become addicted to these products and suffer from tobacco-related disease and death,” he continued.
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Juul e-cigarettes sit on a counter at a vape shop in Santa Monica, California, USA, on June 23, 2022. (Reuters/Lucy Nicholson)
In 2019, the FDA raised the federal minimum age for purchasing tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, from 18 to 21.
According to the American Lung Association, smoking kills more than 480,000 people in the United States each year, making it the nation's leading preventable cause of death.
Additionally, more than 95% of U.S. adults who smoke daily smoke their first cigarette by age 21.
A Food and Drug Administration sign is displayed outside its headquarters in White Oak, Maryland, on July 20, 2020. (Photo by Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images)
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The FDA said it has conducted more than 1.5 million compliance inspections of tobacco retailers to ensure they are complying with federal age restrictions, resulting in 134,000 warning letters, more than 33,000 civil penalties, and 230 tobacco sales prohibition orders for violations related to federal age restrictions.
The Department also provides retailers with resources to improve compliance with tobacco laws, including a voluntary education program called “This is Our Watch,” which provides free resources to help retailers calculate their customers' ages, including a digital age verification calendar and an age calculator app.
Reuters contributed to this report.
