The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids reports that as of January 2019, California, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Oregon, Hawaii, and Maine have raised the tobacco-buying age to 21, joining at least 430 other localities in the effort to sway younger Americans away from a legal, yet harmful habit. Well over 400 years after the Commonwealth of Virginia began its world-dominating tobacco industry, sentiment has shifted as well, attaching to the overwhelming support for raising the age at which one can buy tobacco products that is seen across the U.S.
A 2017 poll from TMC Health shows that, out of 5,000 adults across five states, 80 percent of respondents support raising the age to buy tobacco products to 21.
Following this revitalized trend to promote health, the Virginia General Assembly, a body nearly as old as the American tobacco industry itself, is moving forward with bipartisan, bicameral legislation to do as such.
On the House side, H.B. 2748, introduced by Delegate Chris Stolle (R-Virginia Beach), and on the Senate side, S.B. 1727, introduced by Majority Leader Tommy Norment (R-James City County), would increase the minimum age for those prohibited from “purchasing or possessing tobacco products, nicotine vapor products, and alternative nicotine products.”
Both bills to increase the age of eligibility for tobacco products have attracted bipartisan support from Delegate Jeffrey Bourne (D-Richmond), who is the chief co-patron of the House bill, and Senate Minority Leader Richard Saslaw (D-Fairfax), who is co-sponsoring the senate bill along with Senator Bryce Reeves (R-Spotsylvania).
Speaker of the House Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights), who was a government teacher for nearly three decades, explained that he has been concerned by the “stunningly sharp rise” in the number of middle and high school students who use e-cigarettes.
“When I started, we still were dealing with smoking in the bathrooms, but the good news was that smoking had come down by the time I retired,” he said in a press release. “Vaping growth is really so explosive…I think it is [becoming] one of the top problems within school[s].”
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control reports that the percentage of high school seniors who have used an e-cigarette in the past 30 days climbed to more than 20 percent in 2018, up from 11 percent in 2017, with around six percent of eighth graders using those products.
“Raising the legal age for tobacco purchases to 21 is a common sense way to address this escalating public health concern,” noted Delegate Stolle, who is also a doctor. “The rapid growth of the number of teenagers vaping, at a time when the use of traditional tobacco is at an all-time low, should set off alarms for every parent. This legislation will help to reverse that trend.”
“We want to stop young people from becoming addicted and then to start using tobacco products,” Senator Norment added.
Henrico County-based tobacco leviathan Altria Group Inc., also supports the legislation, citing what public health officials have called the rising “epidemic” of underage use of nicotine delivery devices. David Sutton, a spokesman for Altria, said that although “tobacco use among persons under 18 is at historic lows, underage e-vapor use has increased alarmingly and FDA has characterized this trend as an epidemic.”
If the bill is signed into law following the end of this year’s 46-day session, the first violation by an individual or a retail establishment would be punishable by a civil penalty of up to $100, rising to a maximum of $200 for a second violation, and up to $500 for a third violation.