North Dakota Senate Passes Tobacco Purchasing Age Increase

North Dakota’s Senate has moved its state one step closer to modifying state law to require the minimum age to purchase tobacco change from 18 to 21-years-old.

The North Dakota Senate voted 40 to 7 to pass SB 2156, which would change state law, meaning the bill now moves to the North Dakota House, which will need to approve the change in order for it to become law.

While federal law already requires people purchasing tobacco or e-cigarette products to be 21, many states have changed their own laws to increase the minimum tobacco purchasing age from 18 to 21-years-old. In many states, local law enforcement would not be able to actually punish people for violating the federal statue unless it is codified into state law, which explains why North Dakota’s Senate would pass a bill like this more than a year after the federal law changed.

As for federal enforcement, FDA says that it has begun conducting compliance checks with individuals under the age of 21 “now reasonable transition period has concluded.”