State and Territorial Laws Prohibiting Sales of Tobacco Products to Persons Aged <21 Years — United

Marynak K, Mahoney M, Williams KS, Tynan MA, Reimels E, King BA
State and Territorial Laws Prohibiting Sales of Tobacco Products to Persons Aged <21 Years — United States, December 20, 2019.
MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2020;69:189–192. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm6907a3external icon.

Nearly all tobacco product use begins during adolescence, and minors have cited older peers and siblings as a common source of tobacco products. Before enactment of the 2019 federal law that raised the minimum legal sales age for tobacco products to 21 years (T21), localities, states, and territories were increasingly adopting their own T21 laws as part of a comprehensive approach to prevent youth initiation of tobacco-product use. To understand the landscape of U.S. state and territorial T21 laws prior to enactment of the federal law, CDC assessed state and territorial laws prohibiting sales of all tobacco products to persons <21 years of age. As of December 20, 2019, a total of 19 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Palau had enacted T21 laws, including 13 enacted in 2019.