New Hampshire has joined the Tobacco 21 movement, as Gov. Chris Sununu signed HB 1245 into law, an omnibus bill that included SB 248, which raises the minimum age to purchase and possess tobacco and vaping products from 19 to 21-years-old.
The Senate bill was sponsored by Sen. David Watters, D-4, who had sought the increase for several years before it passed this session. Watters has said that he was troubled by the growing use of e-cigarettes and vaping products, as well as cigarettes, by children in middle and highs school.
The increase brings New Hampshire into alignment with the federal minimum age to purchase tobacco products, which was signed into law in Dec. 2019. However, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration has not yet begun to enforce that minimum age via its compliance checks, though that is expected to begin in the coming months.
