--- title: Trump Signs Bill Raising Legal Age To Buy Tobacco to 21 description: Beginning in the summer of 2020, it will be a violation of federal law to sell tobacco to anyone under the age of 21. canonical: https://time.com/5754266/trump-tobacco-age-21/ author: Madeleine Carlisle article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-12-21T16:20:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-12T20:12:05.000Z article:section: Health og:title: Federal Legal Age to Buy Tobacco Products Officially Raised to 21 og:description: It will go into effect in the summer of 2020 og:url: https://time.com/5754266/trump-tobacco-age-21/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf6c67788563338ea/698a07ea09208f0661416122/GettyImages-1189638209.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: trump tobacco age og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Federal Legal Age to Buy Tobacco Products Officially Raised to 21 twitter:description: It will go into effect in the summer of 2020 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf6c67788563338ea/698a07ea09208f0661416122/GettyImages-1189638209.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 05:08 video:published: 2019-09-18 section: health topics: e-cigarettes, JUUL, youth vaping, nicotine addiction, social media marketing, FDA regulation, flavored e-cigarette ban, public health, tobacco use genre: news, investigative report tones: concerned, critical, informative, debating emotions: concern (high), fear (medium), frustration (medium), skepticism (low) sentiment: negative audience: parents, teenagers, public health observers, policy makers, general news audience people: Ms. Gold organizations: JUUL, FDA, Trump administration, Big Tobacco products: JUUL, e-cigarettes, flavored e-cigarettes, cigarettes content_suitability: health controversy [00:00-05:08]; drugs and alcohol [00:00-05:08] transcript_source: automatic transcription transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # Federal Legal Age to Buy Tobacco Products Officially Raised to 21 > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=94596a99-ed44-4dee-993c-4e630e7102f6&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The New American Addiction [Watch (HLS stream): The New American Addiction](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uWfyRNnQ.m3u8) (5:08)  _Published 2019-09-18. How JUUL hooked kids and ignited a public health crisis_ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary The video examines JUUL's rise in the e-cigarette market and its appeal to teenagers, following the vaping-related lung illness reports of 2019. It covers accounts from students and a school presenter, the company's marketing and social media activity, and its claims of being a safer alternative to cigarettes. It also includes health experts' concerns about nicotine addiction and debate over whether flavored e-cigarettes should be removed from the market. ## Key points - The company's device has dominated the market, in part because of its appeal to teenagers. (00:28) - A speaker says the product is more addictive than any product marketed to kids in decades. (00:46) - Youth tobacco use surged from 2017 to 2018, drawing regulatory attention and investigations. (01:25) - A former student says a JUUL representative at a school seminar said the product was completely safe while declining to want the speaker as a customer. (01:44) - The company said it ended its educational outreach programs in 2018, after grants had funded youth prevention and wellness programs. (02:14) - JUUL shut down its Facebook and Instagram accounts in 2018, yet young people continued promoting it to peers. (02:40) - A physician says the long-term effects of electronic nicotine delivery systems are not yet known, but nicotine increases addiction risk. (03:00) - In September the FDA warned JUUL to stop marketing itself as less harmful than cigarettes without authorization. (03:31) - A speaker argues that removing e-cigarettes while cigarettes remain on the market does not make sense, since cigarettes are more lethal. (04:25) - One speaker claims that for every adult who might quit smoking using an e-cigarette, 80 kids will be initiated into tobacco use. (04:36) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:09] Vaping illness reports and public fear. Reports of lung illnesses linked to e-cigarettes escalate fear, and JUUL becomes the focus. - [00:09 to 00:31] JUUL's market dominance and appeal to teens. The company dominates the market, partly due to its appeal to teenagers. - [00:31 to 01:25] Perceptions of the product and youth use. Students describe how the product looks and feels, and a speaker describes its addictiveness. - [01:25 to 02:02] Regulatory scrutiny and school experiences. Youth tobacco use rose, prompting investigations, and a former student describes a school seminar. - [02:02 to 02:47] Grants, social media and marketing. The company's outreach programs and social media promotion are discussed, along with its shutdown of accounts. - [02:47 to 03:31] Health concerns and FDA action. Experts describe the health risks and the unknown long-term effects, and the FDA challenges JUUL's claims. - [03:31 to 04:25] Debate over harm reduction and flavor bans. Some doctors see public health potential, and a plan to remove flavored e-cigarettes is debated. - [04:25 to 05:08] Concluding views on the generation affected. Speakers argue about the relative harm of cigarettes and e-cigarettes, and the effect on youth. ## Key quotes - [00:46] Unnamed speaker: "We're dealing with a product that is more addictive than any product we've marketed to kids in decades." - [01:37] Former student: "For my classmates who were already vaping, it was a sigh of relief because now they were able to vape without any concern." - [02:02] Unnamed speaker: "These are kids who would otherwise not have been initiated into tobacco use." - [02:56] Unnamed speaker: "A lot of my experience with JUUL come from peer to peer." - [04:08] Unnamed speaker: "So to me, it kind of doesn't make sense to remove a much less harmful product from the market while leaving the most lethal product, the cigarette, on the market." ## Questions this video answers - Why has JUUL dominated the e-cigarette market? [00:24] - How did JUUL's marketing appeal to teenagers? [00:31] - What regulatory actions followed the rise in youth tobacco use? [01:25] - Did JUUL end its social media promotions and educational programs? [02:14] - What did the FDA do in response to JUUL's marketing claims? [03:31] - What are the arguments for and against removing flavored e-cigarettes? [04:08] ## Content suitability - health controversy [00:00-05:08]: Discusses vaping-related lung illnesses, nicotine addiction and public health risks. - drugs and alcohol [00:00-05:08]: Focuses on nicotine products and youth use of e-cigarettes.  by [Madeleine Carlisle](https://time.com/author/madeleine-carlisle/)  ## Madeleine Carlisle Updated: Dec 12, 2023 8:12 PM UTCPublished: Dec 21, 2019 4:20 PM UTC On Friday, President Donald Trump signed a $1.4 trillion spending package that, on top of many things, raises the federal legal age for purchasing tobacco from 18 to 21.  by [Madeleine Carlisle](https://time.com/author/madeleine-carlisle/)  ## Madeleine Carlisle Updated: Dec 12, 2023 8:12 PM UTCPublished: Dec 21, 2019 4:20 PM UTC On Friday, President Donald Trump [signed](https://twitter.com/juddpdeere45/status/1208226926709620736?s=21) a $1.4 trillion spending package that, on top of many things, [raises the federal legal age for purchasing tobacco from 18 to 21.](https://time.com/5753106/tobacco-21-vaping-industry/?utm%5Fsource=newsletter&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fcampaign=the-brief&utm%5Fcontent=20191221&xid=newsletter-brief) Beginning in the summer of 2020, it will be a violation of federal law to sell tobacco to anyone under the age of 21\. Since the 1990s, federal law mandated the legal age to purchase tobacco [be at least 18.](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4902755/) The law also encompasses e-cigarettes and vaping cartridge, not just traditional tobacco products like cigarettes and cigars, adding regulation to an industry that, as TIME’s Jamie Ducharme writes, “has proliferated largely unchecked.” [E-cigarette use has spiked among U.S. teenagers.](https://time.com/5680988/juul-vaping-health-crisis/) According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 27.5% of U.S. high school students reported using e-cigarettes in the past month. Raising the age one can purchase the products is intended to combat what many are calling a health epidemic amongst America’s youth. [A recent outbreak of vaping-related lung disease](https://time.com/5753947/vaping-lung-disease-outbreak-peak/) has raised even more concern about vaping products, although the disease is largely linked to black market THC cartridges filled with the additive vitamin E acetate. In a statement to TIME, the American Lung Association called raising the age an “easy way to protect children’s health and prevent future generations from getting hooked on nicotine.” Vaping advocate also have said they support raising the legal age, arguing vaping products were never intended for young people. Some anti-vaping activists have [expressed skepticism](https://time.com/5593618/vaping-tobacco-21-laws/) of this opinion. Twenty states have already raised the legal age to buy tobacco products to 21. The signing of the package pushes off the potential of a government shutdown to the end of September 2020; many worried one might happen on Friday if an agreement between the two parties couldn’t be reached. A year ago, the U.S. government was in what become the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. The bipartisan spending bill also allocated $25 million for gun violence research as well as $1.4 billion funding for Trump’s border wall. Trump originally requested $8.6 billion earlier this year. **Correction, Dec. 23** _The original version of this story misstated the leading culprit behind recent vaping-related lung disease. CDC researchers believe it is likely linked to black market THC cartridges filled with the additive vitamin E acetate, not just THC._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5754266/trump-tobacco-age-21/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5754266/trump-tobacco-age-21/"},"headline":"Federal Legal Age to Buy Tobacco Products Officially Raised to 21","datePublished":"2019-12-21T16:20:06.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-12T20:12:05.000Z","description":"It will go into effect in the summer of 2020","url":"https://time.com/5754266/trump-tobacco-age-21/","keywords":["Public Health","Congress","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf6c67788563338ea/698a07ea09208f0661416122/GettyImages-1189638209.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Madeleine Carlisle","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/madeleine-carlisle/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf6c67788563338ea/698a07ea09208f0661416122/GettyImages-1189638209.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"trump tobacco age","caption":"trump tobacco age","creditText":"Stephanie Keith — Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/public-health/","name":"Public Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5754266/trump-tobacco-age-21/","name":"Federal Legal Age to Buy Tobacco Products Officially Raised to 21"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Federal Legal Age to Buy Tobacco Products Officially Raised to 21","description":"On Friday, President Donald Trump signed a $1.4 trillion spending package that, on top of many things, raises the federal legal age for purchasing tobacco from 18 to 21.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/EsfQH0am/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2019-12-22T20:31:50.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/EsfQH0am.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5754266/trump-tobacco-age-21/","duration":"PT55S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5754266/trump-tobacco-age-21/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The New American Addiction","description":"How JUUL hooked kids and ignited a public health crisis","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/uWfyRNnQ/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2019-09-18T19:49:20.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/uWfyRNnQ.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5754266/trump-tobacco-age-21/","duration":"PT5M8S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5754266/trump-tobacco-age-21/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```