Starting September 30, 2024, tobacco retailers will be required to request photo identification from anyone under 30 to verify their age, up from the previous cutoff of 27

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has increased the minimum age for purchasing tobacco products from 18 to 21. This change applies to all tobacco products, including cigarettes and smokeless tobacco.

Starting September 30, 2024, tobacco retailers will be required to request photo identification from anyone under 30 to verify their age, up from the previous cutoff of 27.  The new regulations restrict the sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products from vending machines to locations where only individuals aged 21 and older are permitted to enter.

“These requirements are in line with legislation signed in December 2019 that immediately raised the federal minimum age of sale of tobacco products in the United States from 18 to 21 years of age. Once implemented, the requirements are expected to help decrease underage tobacco sales,” the FDA statement said.

Director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products Brian King said that the rule was a "key step" toward protecting America's youth from the health risks of 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,” King said.

More than 95% of US adults who smoke daily had their first cigarette by the age of 21. Accordingly, the FDA continues to robustly enforce the federal minimum age of sale for tobacco products, including after the minimum age of sale was increased to 21. To date, the agency has conducted more than 1.5 million compliance checks of tobacco retailers to ensure compliance with federal age restrictions. These inspections have resulted in 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 also continues to provide retailers with resources to improve compliance with tobacco laws and regulations, including age of sale restrictions. For example, the FDA has developed a voluntary education program, “This is Our Watch,” which offers free resources to assist retailers in calculating the age of customers, including a digital age verification calendar and an age calculator app. Retailers can also find information on tobacco products that may be legally marketed in the United States through the Searchable Tobacco Products Database. Updated resources, including further information on these latest requirements, will be made available on the FDA’s website in the near future.

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