Amanda Smith
Editor-in-Chief
On Friday, Dec. 20, the age for purchasing tobacco products, including e-cigarettes (JUULs, vapes, etc.) was raised from 18 to 21 after President Donald Trump signed legislation to amend the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
The amendment was made after multiple studies throughout recent years pointed towards the benefits of raising the minimum age to 21 including the psychological and physical effects and after several comments from Trump in recent months.
“We have to take care of our kids, most importantly, so we’re going to have an age limit of 21 or so, so we’ll be coming out with something next week very important on vaping,” Trump said in November, just a month before signing legislation.
According to the American Lung Association, this change will “reduce youth access to tobacco products and help save lives.” A major concern regarding the use of tobacco and nicotine products resides in the youth and ideally, the new age requirements will keep tobacco and nicotine products out of the hands of minors and those who distribute to them.
“The introduction of e-cigarettes was supposed to be an alternative to regular cigarette smoking, and I think that they market it as more of a hip way of smoking and the cool thing to do,” Associate Professor of Fitness and Wellness Bryce Winklepleck said. “I don’t know for a fact, but I do think that kids at a young age are getting into it.”
Data from a September study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services showed that nearly 30% of high school students across all grades had vaped nicotine within the last month. This is in great part because of the introduction of new nicotine devices such as JUUL, that have a variety of flavors desirable to the younger generations.
Although there are obvious benefits to raising the legal age to 21, many students still think that it will not be effective in preventing minors from using the products.
“It definitely won’t stop young people from getting it,” freshman Maguire Sole said. “I mean people get alcohol easily all the time. It doesn’t change much besides the fact they can’t get it themselves at 18 now.”
