Tobacco-Free Youth Act approved by key senate committee

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) approved the Tobacco-Free Youth Act, according to U.S. senators Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Tim Kaine (D-VA).

The bill would raise the nationwide minimum age to buy all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and vaping devices, from 18 to 21, according to a press release from McConnell’s office. The two Senators introduced the Tobacco-Free Youth Act to help stem the tide of these alarming trends by making it unlawful for retailers to sell tobacco products to anyone younger than 21.

The release cites a report from the Institute of Medicine found that most adult smokers start smoking before age 21 and that increasing the tobacco age to 21 would save lives, improve public health, and reduce tobacco initiation among youth, as a reason drafting the bill.

“I’m grateful to my colleagues for advancing our legislation to help curb the spike of youth tobacco use,” said McConnell. “Senator Kaine and I are especially proud of the positive reception we’ve received from parents concerned about this problem in their own families. Because children are extremely vulnerable to becoming addicted to nicotine and suffering its lifelong consequences, we must do everything we can to keep these products out of their hands. Passing our legislation out of the HELP Committee is a critical next step toward protecting kids from tobacco’s addiction.”

Kaine said that he was “thrilled that the HELP Committee passed our bipartisan legislation to raise the tobacco age to 21. This is a great step forward in our efforts to protect public health and tackle the youth vaping crisis.”