The Food and Drug Administration has announced new rules that will require retailers to verify the age of those under 30 who are trying to purchase tobacco products.
The current rule requires retailers to verify the ages of those under age 27 who purchase tobacco. The new rule essentially raises the threshold for verification by three years.
The FDA said that these new rules, which will go into effect September 30, followed the change in the minimum age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21 in 2019.
"It’s important for retailers to request and examine photo IDs to verify age from anyone under 30, regardless of appearance, as research has shown that it is difficult for retailers to accurately determine the age of a customer from appearance alone," the FDA said.
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The FDA added the rules are expected to help decrease underage tobacco sales.
“Today’s rule is another key step toward protecting our nation’s youth from the health risks of tobacco products,” said Brian King, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products. “Decades of science have 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.”
The FDA said it has conducted 1.5 million compliance checks to ensure retailers are following federal age restrictions. The checks have resulted in 134,000 warning letters, 33,000 fines and 230 no-tobacco-sale orders.
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Tobacco usage in the U.S. has declined significantly over the years. In 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that 11.5% of adults used cigarette products. In 2005, 20.9% were estimated to smoke cigarettes.
Despite reduced smoking rates, tobacco is still a significant cause of premature death in the U.S., the CDC says. The agency estimates that cigarette smoking causes more than 480,000 deaths each year in the United States, which equals one out of every five deaths.
