II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1258 

To prohibit the sale of tobacco products to individuals under the age of 

21. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 30, 2019 

Mr. SCHATZ (for himself, Mr. YOUNG, Mr. DURBIN, and Mr. ROMNEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation 

A BILL 

To prohibit the sale of tobacco products to individuals under 

the age of 21. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tobacco to 21 Act’’. 

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

6 Congress finds the following: 

7 (1) Tobacco use has caused more than 

8 20,800,000 premature deaths in the United States 

9 since the Surgeon General’s first report on smoking 

10 in 1964. 


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1 (2) The 1964 Surgeon General’s report linked 

2 cigarette smoking to cancer, and since then, other 

3 tobacco products, including cigars, cigarillos, roll4 your-own products, and smokeless tobacco have been 

5 causally linked to cancer. 

6 (3) While substantial gains have been made 

7 since 1964, tobacco use remains the leading prevent8 able cause of death in the United States, responsible 

9 for more than 480,000 premature deaths each year. 

10 (4) Tobacco use costs the United States ap11 proximately $175,000,000,000 in direct medical 

12 costs and $156,000,000,000 in lost productivity 

13 every year. 

14 (5) More than 34,000,000 people in the United 

15 States still smoke, and the tobacco industry con16 tinues to challenge tobacco control measures in 

17 court, manipulate products to evade existing regula18 tions, introduce new and dangerous tobacco prod19 ucts, and spend billions of dollars on marketing to 

20 deceive the public and addict more children. 

21 (6) An estimated 5,600,000 youth aged 17 and 

22 under are projected to die prematurely from a to23 bacco-related illness if prevalence rates do not 

24 change. 


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1 (7) Each day in the United States, more than 

2 2,000 youth under 18 years of age smoke their first 

3 cigarette. 

4 (8) Use of tobacco products in any form is not 

5 safe, especially during adolescence, as such use can 

6 lead to nicotine dependence and subsequent tobacco7 related diseases and death. 

8 (9) Adolescents are especially vulnerable to the 

9 effects of nicotine and nicotine addiction and appear 

10 to show signs of nicotine addiction at lower levels of 

11 exposure compared to adults. 

12 (10) Nicotine exposure during adolescence may 

13 have lasting adverse consequences on brain develop14 ment. According to the Surgeon General, the use of 

15 products containing nicotine in any form among 

16 youth, including in electronic cigarettes, is unsafe. 

17 (11) The likelihood of developing smoking-re18 lated cancers increases with duration of smoking. 

19 Therefore, smokers that start at younger ages and 

20 continue to smoke are at higher risk for tobacco-re21 lated disease and death. 

22 (12) National data show that about 94 percent 

23 of adult smokers begin smoking before they turn 21. 

24 The ages of 18 to 21 are a critical period when 


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1 many smokers move from experimental smoking to 

2 regular, daily use. 

3 (13) Three-quarters of adults in the United 

4 States favor raising the tobacco age of sale to 21 

5 years, including 7 in 10 smokers. 

6 (14) In 2018, the Surgeon General issued an 

7 advisory on the electronic cigarette epidemic among 

8 youth. Electronic cigarette use among high school 

9 students in the United States increased 78 percent 

10 from 2017 to 2018. In 2018, more than 3,600,000 

11 youth, including 1 in 5 high school students and 1 

12 in 20 middle school students used electronic ciga13 rettes. 

14 (15) Electronic cigarettes are the most com15 monly used tobacco product among youth. According 

16 to the Surgeon General’s 2016 report on electronic 

17 cigarettes, electronic cigarette use is strongly associ18 ated with the use of other tobacco products among 

19 youth and young adults. 

20 (16) The 2015 report of the National Academy 

21 of Medicine entitled, ‘‘Public Health Implications of 

22 Raising the Minimum Age of Legal Access to To23 bacco Products’’, concluded that raising the min24 imum legal age of sale of tobacco products nation25 wide will reduce tobacco initiation, particularly 


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1 among adolescents aged 15 to 17, and will improve 

2 health across the lifespan and save lives. Specifically, 

3 the report said that raising the minimum legal age 

4 of sale of tobacco products nationwide to age 21 

5 would, over time, lead to a 12-percent decrease in 

6 smoking prevalence. 

7 (17) The National Academy of Medicine report 

8 also predicts that raising the minimum legal age of 

9 sale of tobacco products nationwide to age 21 would 

10 result in 223,000 fewer premature deaths, 45,000 

11 fewer deaths from lung cancer, and 4,200,000 fewer 

12 years of life lost for those born between 2000 and 

13 2019. In addition, the report concluded that raising 

14 the minimum legal age of sale would result in near 

15 immediate reductions in preterm birth, low birth 

16 weight, and sudden infant death syndrome. 

17 (18) Regulating the retail environment, actively 

18 enforcing laws, and educating retailers are strategies 

19 that Federal, State, and local governments can take 

20 to restrict the availability of tobacco products to 

21 youth. 

22 (19) Twelve States, the District of Columbia, 

23 and more than 110 localities in an additional 15 

24 States have raised the minimum legal tobacco sale 

25 age to 21. 


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1 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION AND ENFORCEMENT. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other provi3 sion of law, including any Federal regulation, it shall be 

4 unlawful to sell a tobacco product to anyone under the 

5 age of 21 or to sell a tobacco product to anyone under 

6 30 without verification of age by means of photo identi7 fication. 

8 (b) AUTHORITY TO ENFORCE.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

10 Human Services (referred to in this section as the 

11 ‘‘Secretary’’) is authorized to enforce the prohibition 

12 under subsection (a) and shall take necessary action 

13 to enforce such prohibition, including, as appro14 priate, conducting undercover compliance checks, 

15 performing retailer inspections, initiating enforce16 ment actions for noncompliance, and taking any 

17 other measures appropriate to help ensure nation18 wide compliance with such prohibition. 

19 (2) GUIDANCE.—The Secretary may issue guid20 ance concerning the responsibility of persons subject 

21 to subsection (a) to ensure compliance with such 

22 prohibition. 

23 (c) PENALTIES.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a violation of 

25 subsection (a), the Secretary may apply the penalties 

26 under section 103(q)(2) of the Family Smoking PreVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 May 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1258.IS S1258

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1 vention and Tobacco Control Act (Public Law 111– 

2 31), as though such subsection (a) were a regulation 

3 promulgated under paragraph (1) of section 906(d) 

4 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 

5 U.S.C. 387f(d)), notwithstanding paragraph 

6 (3)(A)(ii) of such section 906(d). 

7 (2) REPEATED VIOLATIONS.—In the case of re8 peated violations of subsection (a), alone or com9 bined with violations of other regulations promul10 gated under 906(d)(1) of the Federal Food, Drug, 

11 and Cosmetic Act, the Secretary may impose a pen12 alty under section 303(f)(8) of such Act (21 U.S.C. 

13 333(f)(8)), as though subsection (a) were a regula14 tion promulgated under paragraph (1) of section 

15 906(d) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic 

16 Act, notwithstanding paragraph (3)(A)(ii) of such 

17 section 906(d). 

18 (d) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘tobacco 

19 product’’ has the meaning given such term in section 

20 201(rr) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 

21 U.S.C. 321(rr)). 

22 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 

23 on January 1, 2020. 

24 (f) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec25 tion shall be construed to prevent a State or local governVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:12 May 03, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1258.IS S1258

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1 mental entity from establishing, enforcing, or maintaining 

2 a law with respect to sales of tobacco to individuals below 

3 a minimum age, provided that such State or local law is 

4 in addition to, or more stringent than, Federal law. 

5 (g) APPLICATION.—The prohibition under subsection 

6 (a) applies only to a manufacturer, distributor, retailer, 

7 third-party marketplace, or other commercial entity that 

8 sells tobacco products. 

Æ 


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