Federal Minimum Age of Sale for Tobacco Products Methodology

In March 2015, the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine) issued a report looking at the impact increasing the age of sale for tobacco products could have on youth tobacco use rates. The report concluded that increasing the age of sale for tobacco products to 21 nationwide could prevent 223,000 deaths among people born between 2000 and 2019, including 50,000 fewer dying from lung cancer, the nation’s leading cancer killer.¹ In 2019, Congress passed a law increasing the minimum age of sale to 21 and required FDA to issue confirming regulations.

A grade was awarded in this category based on whether the federal government increased the age of sale for tobacco products to 21 and issued the regulations as required by statute. The letter grade received deductions based on if groups, like active-duty military, were exempted from the age of sale of 21. The federal government would receive an automatic F grade if some tobacco products, such as e-cigarettes, were exempted from the age of sale increase, there was preemption on state or local governments from raising the age of sale or the age of sale was 19 or 20 years old.