# US smoking age is now 21 **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 1, 2020, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-smoking-age-is-now-21/845714 "2020-01-01T13:21:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-smoking-age-is-now-21/845714/21 "2020-01-02T04:28:39Z")
This seems like it happened pretty swiftly. Hadn’t heard a peep about it. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-smoking-age-is-now-21/845714/22 "2020-01-02T05:26:59Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > It’s odd to think that one day soon there’s going to be a porn set somewhere where a young lady just got plowed by 3 men for money but can’t light up a smoke to take the edge off. That day has come and gone. California is dominant in the adult industry. The smoking age has been 21 there for a couple years. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-smoking-age-is-now-21/845714/23 "2020-01-02T12:26:34Z")
they can follow the alcohol idea and pass another law cutting health funding to states that don’t raise their age to 21. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-smoking-age-is-now-21/845714/24 "2020-01-02T16:14:47Z")
Whats the real reason they’re doing this? I thought it was to protect the tobacco companies from lawsuits somehow. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-smoking-age-is-now-21/845714/25 "2020-01-02T16:16:12Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > It’ll be interesting to see. In Chicago, which has had a 21 and over law for a while, I occasionally see someone carded for smokes. I imagine if I went to rural Illinois I wouldn’t and they’d look the other way. > > I’d imagine the difference is because if a 7/11 sold a teen alcohol and he killed someone driving drunk, you know there’s a lawsuit coming. Someone who gets lung cancer at 60 from smoking isn’t gong to have much of a case against a 7/11 from years ago even if it’s still open. Smoking age in Indiana was 18 until recently. Also you can buy guns here. So people from IL could come here and buy cigarettes (which have lower taxes and a younger purchase age) as well as guns, then we’d buy our weed from Illinois. The miracle of economics. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-smoking-age-is-now-21/845714/26 "2020-01-02T16:27:23Z")
Here in NC for a long time smoke taxes were very low and a lot of NC places along I-95 and I-85 made a killing on sales. The NC taxes are no longer very low but still a little lower than many other states so those stores along the interstates are mostly gone now. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-smoking-age-is-now-21/845714/27 "2020-01-02T16:43:46Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Whats the real reason they’re doing this? I thought it was to protect the tobacco companies from lawsuits somehow. IIRC, in recent years tobacco companies have been focusing their efforts outside the U.S. - 80% of all cigarettes are consumed in third-world countries, with China alone smoking 10 times as many cigarettes as the U.S. [[Cite](https://www.tobaccofreekids.org/assets/global/pdfs/en/Global_Cigarette_Industry_pdf.pdf)]. Maybe they simply don’t care about the U.S. market that much any more. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-smoking-age-is-now-21/845714/28 "2020-01-02T17:11:41Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > So people from IL could come here and buy cigarettes (which have lower taxes and a younger purchase age) as well as guns, then we’d buy our weed from Illinois. The miracle of economics. Since the 1968 GCA, it’s been illegal to buy handguns from a gun store in a different state, and all long gun sales have to confirm to the laws of both the state the store is in and the state the purchaser resides in. So this doesn’t actually work legally, and is something that both the ATF and IL have arrested people for before. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-smoking-age-is-now-21/845714/29 "2020-01-02T18:03:26Z")
Also US tobacco farmers are no longer guaranteed a price for their crop. It’s a free market now so there are less tobacco farmers. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-smoking-age-is-now-21/845714/30 "2020-01-02T20:58:35Z")
FDA just banned fruit and mint flavored vaping cartridges > **[FDA Officially Bans Fruit- And Mint-Flavored Vaping Cartridges | Digital Trends](https://www.digitaltrends.com/news/fda-flavored-vape-electronic-cigarette-ban-mint-fruit/)** > > The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officially banned fruit- and mint-flavored e-cigarette cartridges currently on the market as a result of the vaping illness epidemic that caused lung diseases and deaths over the past year. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-smoking-age-is-now-21/845714/31 "2020-01-02T23:59:29Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > AFAIK, they never enforced the age restriction. They relied on states to do so. I’ve never heard of a retailer being charged in federal court for selling smokes to underage people and I’ll bet that it has never been done. Congress forced states to set minimum sale age at 18 with section 1926 of the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration Reorganization Act of 1991 ([106 Stat 394](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-106/pdf/STATUTE-106-Pg323.pdf), p. 72 of PDF; codified under [42 U.S.C. 300x-26](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=(title:42%20section:300x-26%20edition:prelim))). This section of law is amended by division N section 604 of [H.R.1865](https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/1865/text#toc-H1CB3CAE840AA412285E15A86531C8446), by striking “18” and inserting “21”, among other things. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-smoking-age-is-now-21/845714/32 "2020-01-03T01:02:46Z")
My area has just raised the legal cannabis age to 21. I think the smoking and drinking ages are still at 18. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-smoking-age-is-now-21/845714/33 "2020-01-03T03:05:33Z")
> [@Max\_S](#): > > Congress forced states to set minimum sale age at 18 with section 1926 of the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration Reorganization Act of 1991 ([106 Stat 394](https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-106/pdf/STATUTE-106-Pg323.pdf), p. 72 of PDF; codified under [42 U.S.C. 300x-26](https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=(title:42%20section:300x-26%20edition:prelim))). > > This section of law is amended by division N section 604 of [H.R.1865](https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/1865/text#toc-H1CB3CAE840AA412285E15A86531C8446), by striking “18” and inserting “21”, among other things. > > ~Max Interesting. So it looks like they did both. They outlawed it federally which takes effect immediately and have also blackmailed the states ala the drinking age method by giving a three year window in which states must change their legal purchase ages to 21. Instead of highway funding they have tied it to substance abuse grants. That seems forced. Yes, nicotine addiction is certainly an addiction but not one that has the societal effects of heroin or even alcohol. Let’s hope that Thomas, Gorsuch, et al find a renewed commitment to states rights after the feds just don’t get the message. I’m ashamed of the Republicans in the Senate who voted for this as I thought we were the party of federalism. I guess not. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-smoking-age-is-now-21/845714/34 "2020-01-03T03:19:20Z")
How do the Cigarette Vending Machines card customers? :):dubious: ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-smoking-age-is-now-21/845714/35 "2020-01-03T03:24:40Z")
Is this just for tobacco products? Can 18-to-20-year-olds buy nicotine patches? Quit kits? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-smoking-age-is-now-21/845714/36 "2020-01-03T03:26:03Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > How do the Cigarette Vending Machines card customers? :):dubious: A federal made them illegal except in businesses like bars that already restricted access to people under 18. They’ll have to update that law to enforce the new one, which they won’t be doing anyway unless state level laws are enacted. At least I hope they’re not spending my tax dollars on the FBI investigating a mini-mart for selling cigarettes to a 20 year old. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2020, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-smoking-age-is-now-21/845714/37 "2020-01-13T07:08:55Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > Instead of highway funding they have tied it to substance abuse grants. That seems forced. Yes, nicotine addiction is certainly an addiction but not one that has the societal effects of heroin or even alcohol. > > . It does have some visible effects if you tune in: around here a typical gas-station robbery was "all the money you have in the cash register and a carton of Marlboro Reds’. Committed by someone in nicotine withdrawal and not enough money to buy cigarettes. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2020, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-smoking-age-is-now-21/845714/38 "2020-01-13T23:11:04Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > It does have some visible effects if you tune in: around here a typical gas-station robbery was "all the money you have in the cash register and a carton of Marlboro Reds’. Committed by someone in nicotine withdrawal and not enough money to buy cigarettes. That’s funny 🙂 and sad ☹ ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2020, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-smoking-age-is-now-21/845714/39 "2020-01-14T01:37:40Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > I recall when my son was about 11 or 12 he asked me, “If the government really wants to stop people smoking why don’t they increase the age that you can buy cigarettes every year? Then no-one that doesn’t already smoke can legally buy cigarettes.”… Well if they REALLY wanted to ban all smoking, why not make it totally illegal? It worked _really_ well for alcohol in the 1920’s! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-smoking-age-is-now-21/845714.md?page=1)