Kansas Tobacco 21 Bill Heads to Governor (Update)

For the second consecutive year, the Kansas House of Representatives has passed a bill that would change the state’s minimum age to purchase tobacco from 18- to 21-years-old.

Update (March 28, 2023) — The Kansas Senate passed H.B. 2269 by a vote of 28-11. It now heads to Gov. Laura Kelly for signing.

Earlier today, H.B. 2269 passed the Kansas House of Representatives 68-53. The bill simply replaces any reference to “18” with “21” in existing Kansas law. Last year, the Kansas House of Representatives passed a similar, but not identical bill only to see it die in a committee in the Kansas Senate.

This legislation is largely about codifying an existing federal requirement into Kansas’ state law, allowing local law enforcement to enforce the existing federal requirement. In December 2019, President Donald Trump signed a large federal spending bill that also included a provision increasing the minimum age to purchase tobacco products from 18- to 21-years-old at the federal level. While the federal law already exists, its enforcement is restricted to those who sell tobacco products and not the consumers. The vast majority of U.S. states have updated their laws to make it consistent with the federal standard, Kansas is one of the exceptions.

The 2023 bill is much simpler than the 2022 bill, which made other changes such as making it illegal to possess tobacco or vaping products on any school campus. The 2023 bill doesn’t make that illegal, though keeps current provisions in place that would make it illegal to “distribute samples within 500 feet of any school when such facility is being used primarily by persons under 21 years of age,” the current law defines that as persons “under 18 years of age.”

Update (March 28, 2023) — This bill passed the Senate. This story was originally published on March 2, 2023.