WASHINGTON — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced new requirements, effective Sept. 30, for businesses selling tobacco products.

What You Need To Know

  • The FDA has announced new requirements for businesses selling tobacco products

  • Retailers must verify through photo ID the age of anyone under 30 trying to buy tobacco products, including e-cigarettes

  • They cannot sell the products through vending machines in places where people under 21 are permitted

  • The Tobacco-Free Youth Act led to the changes

Retailers must verify through photo ID the age of anyone under 30 trying to buy tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes. They cannot sell the products through vending machines in places where people under 21 are permitted.

The Tobacco-Free Youth Act, signed into law in 2019, led to the changes. The bipartisan bill from Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., raised the minimum age to buy all tobacco products from 18 to 21.

McConnell has acknowledged his decision to lead the bill surprised some, as his home state of Kentucky has close ties to the tobacco industry. 

“As I pointed out in the past, Kentucky farmers don't want their children forming nicotine addictions any more than any other parent,” McConnell said in a speech on the Senate floor last month. “If we've learned anything in the fight against addiction, it’s that families are right to be worried.”

McConnell cited information from the CDC showing the number of young people in the U.S. smoking e-cigarettes has dropped to its lowest level in a decade.

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