Senators Introduce Bill to Raise American Smoking Age to 21

Eleven Senators have introduced a bill that would raise the federal minimum age to purchase tobacco from 18 to 21 in the United States.

The Tobacco to 21 Act, S.2100, has been introduced by 11 Democratic senators:

• Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.
• Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio
• Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.
• Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.
• Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.
• Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii
• Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass.
• Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I.
• Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
• Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.

A similar bill was sponsored by 10 of the 11 Senators in 2015. Sen. Feinstein is now a sponsor in place of Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who retired.

Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., is a sponsor according to a press release. There does not appear to be a House bill yet in Congressional records.

Currently three states—California, Hawaii and New Jersey—have raised the minimum age to 21, while two more—Oregon and Maine—will raise their age next year.

Dozens of other states have seen bills introduced that would raise the minimum tobacco purchasing age over the last five years.

A text of the bill is not yet available, but it’s unlikely it would change the minimum age to purchase marijuana, which is still illegal on the federal level.

Featured image by Scrumshus (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.