Under 30? You'll Need Photo ID to Buy an E-Cigarette

The FDA has announced the imminent introduction of new rules concerning the age requirements for purchasing tobacco products, including e-cigarettes. As of September 30, 2024, retailers will be legally required to verify that anyone under 30 attempting to buy cigarettes, cigars, tobacco, vapes, or any other deemed tobacco product is over the legal age using photo ID.

This Final Rule follows the 2019 Further Consolidated Appropriations Act that immediately increased the minimum legal age to buy tobacco products from 18 to 21 years of age, and is being introduced in the hopes of reducing the number of underage tobacco users. It also includes an increase in how old you have to be to enter any premises that maintain self-service displays selling cigarettes or smokeless tobacco from 18 to 21 years of age.

The previous photo ID requirement, which has been in place for several years, applied to anyone under 27 years of age. But as the minimum legal age to buy tobacco products was increased, it was decided that the verification age should be raised by the same 3-year amount. This increase in what is essentially a legal age buffer zone is said to be at least partly due to research that has shown that retailers find it difficult to accurately determine the age of a customer from their appearance alone.

In this case, the change from 27 to 30 seems almost arbitrary. Is there truly much change in the appearance of someone between those ages? Reading the text of the Final Rule reveals no justification for the rise other than to bring it in line with the 2019 increase in the actual legal age to purchase tobacco products.

Regardless, Brian King, the FDA’s director of the Center for Tobacco Products, is quoted as saying:

“Today’s rule is another key step toward protecting our nation’s youth from the health risks of tobacco products. Decades of science have shown that keeping tobacco products away from youth is critical to reducing the number of people who ultimately become addicted to these products and suffer from tobacco-related disease and death.”

What is a Final Rule?

Despite the name, a “Final Rule” is not a final addition or change that will be made to a particular piece of federal legislation. A Final Rule is a new piece of federal legislation that has passed through the proposal and public comment stages of the rulemaking process.

So in the case of the final rule discussed above, another change to the legislation on the required age to buy tobacco products could be proposed in the future, and if passed, a new “Final Rule” will come into effect.