--- 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=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 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=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Federal Legal Age to Buy Tobacco Products Officially Raised to 21 ## 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_  by [Madeleine Carlisle](/author/madeleine-carlisle/)  ## Madeleine Carlisle Updated: Dec 12, 2023 8:12 PM CUTPublished: Dec 21, 2019 4:20 PM CUT  A sign that states "must be over 21" hangs in the store window of a vape shop on Dec. 19, 2019 in New York City. A sign that states "must be over 21" hangs in the store window of a vape shop on Dec. 19, 2019 in New York City.Stephanie Keith — Getty Images  by [Madeleine Carlisle](/author/madeleine-carlisle/)  ## Madeleine Carlisle Updated: Dec 12, 2023 8:12 PM CUTPublished: Dec 21, 2019 4:20 PM CUT On Friday, President Donald Trump [signed](https://twitter.com/juddpdeere45/status/1208226926709620736?s=21 "undefined") 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 "undefined") 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/ "undefined") 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/ "undefined") 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/ "undefined") 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/ "undefined") 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":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/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":"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"}}] ```