Smokers under 30 must show ID to purchase tobacco products, FDA says

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that people who appear under 30 will now be required to show photo identification to purchase tobacco products, raising the previous age verification requirement by three years.

The rule, finalized on Thursday, also said retailers cannot sell tobacco products through vending machines in places where people under 21 are present or allowed to enter at any time. Previously, these vending machines were not permitted only in places where people under 18 were allowed.

Set to take effect on Sept. 30, the new rule looks to build on federal efforts to protect young people from accessing tobacco products.

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The U.S. has been working to crack down on tobacco use in recent years over health concerns linked to smoking and other products, and has sought to prevent the use of e-cigarettes by minors.

“Today’s rule is another key step toward protecting 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 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,” he continued.

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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 each year in the U.S., which makes it the leading preventable cause of death in the nation.

Additionally, more than 95% of U.S. adults who smoke daily had their first cigarette by the age of 21.

The FDA said it has conducted more than 1.5 million compliance inspections of tobacco retailers to ensure compliance with federal age restrictions and that the inspections led to 134,000 warning letters, more than 33,000 civil money penalties and 230 no-tobacco-sale orders for violations related to federal age restrictions.

The agency has also provided resources to retailers to improve compliance with tobacco laws and regulations, including a voluntary education program called “This is Our Watch,” which offers free resources to help retailers calculate the age of customers, including a digital age verification calendar and an age calculator app.

Reuters contributed to this report.