N.C. bill would raise legal smoking, vaping age to 21

A bipartisan group of House members have filed a bill that would raise the smoking and vaping age to 21. After Jan. 1, 2021, House Bill 435 would require all tobacco consumers to be at least 21 years old to purchase all tobacco and tobacco-derived products — electronic cigarettes and vaporizers, and cigarette wrapping papers. Although raising the minimum smoking age to 21 may be a major challenge in a state with a deep tobacco heritage, there has been momentum toward such restrictions nationwide.

The legislatures in California and Hawaii raised their minimum age to 21 in 2016, and four other states have raised the minimum age to 19. HB 435 mostly addresses the fines that retailers and wholesalers would face if caught selling these products to anyone under age 21. It also amends the punishment for those caught buying these products for individuals under age 21.

The bill’s primary sponsor, state Rep. Donny Lambeth (R-Forsyth) is a former president of N.C. Baptist Hospital. The law has a practical and personal side for him, he said, because his mother died from lung cancer. “When she started smoking at a young age, there was little warning about the risk of smoking to your health,” Lambeth said. “Smoking in North Carolina represents the single largest factor in preventable deaths.

Many older people who smoke started in their teen years. Many of them have told me they wish they had not even started.” At last count, 24 states, including North Carolina, had bills introduced during their current legislative sessions that would set the tobacco-use age at 21. The legislatures in Arizona, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa and Utah already have rejected their bills, according to Cigar Aficionado research. Bills in the Oregon and Vermont legislatures have passed one chamber but are pending in the other. Other states with pending bills to raise the age for using tobacco products are Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Texas, Washington and West Virginia. Forty-seven states, including North Carolina, have passed age restrictions on e-cigarette sales.

Reynolds supported that law in North Carolina. The Food and Drug Administration recommends a federal ban on selling e-cigs to people younger than 18. Richard Craver is a reporter for the Winston-Salem Journal.

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