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Raising the minimum legal sales age for tobacco to 21 — "T21" — is meant to
cut off the social supply. **Nearly all tobacco use begins during
adolescence**, and minors cite older peers and siblings as a common source:
move the legal age past the older sibling, and the supply chain into a school
gets longer.
Congress raised the federal age on 20 December 2019. By then **19 states,
DC, Guam and Palau had their own T21 laws** — up from one (Palau) in 2013,
and 13 of them enacted in 2019 alone.
Four provisions that work against the law
State laws vary widely and **can include provisions that might not benefit the
public's health**:
| Why it cuts against the point | |
|---|---|
| Penalties on youths for purchase, use or possession | It moves the enforcement from the retailer, who is licensed and inspectable, onto the young person — who is the one the law exists to protect |
| Military exemptions | Carves a population of 18-to-20-year-olds back out |
| Phase-in periods of a year or more | Another cohort starts in the meantime |
| Preemption of local laws | Stops cities going further, and often stops them doing anything about retail tobacco at all |
The 2019 laws were worse on all four
**Compared with T21 laws enacted during 2013–2018, more of those enacted in
2019 have purchase, use or possession penalties; military exemptions; phase-in
periods of a year or more; and preemption of local laws.**
As of December 2019, **13 states, DC and Guam imposed penalties on young
people**, while six states and Palau did not.
And they came from different places
| Enacted in a state or territory that | 2013–2018 | 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| has no comprehensive smoke-free law | 2 | 5 |
| taxes cigarettes at under $2.00 a pack | 1 | 5 |
The early adopters were places that had already done the other things. The 2019
wave — responding to the surge in youth e-cigarette use — reached states with
weaker smoke-free laws and cheaper cigarettes, arriving as a standalone measure
rather than as the next step in a programme.
That matters because T21 is not claimed to work alone:
**T21 laws could help prevent and reduce youth tobacco product use when
implemented as part of a comprehensive approach that includes evidence-based,
population-based tobacco control strategies such as smoke-free laws and
pricing strategies.**
Enforcement responsibility also varies — most commonly law enforcement
(eight states and Palau) or health entities (seven states and Guam), which
is the difference between a police matter and a licensing matter.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, MMWR.
Licens: CC0 1.0 (offentligt eje) · Bearbejdet efter www.cdc.gov
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