Age to Buy Tobacco in New York State Raised

The minimum age to buy tobacco products in New York has officially been raised.

Starting on Wednesday, Nov. 13, the minimum age to buy tobacco products and electronic cigarettes goes from 18 to 21 in New York State.

"The goal of this law is simple - to prevent cigarettes and vaping products from getting into the hands of our youth, creating an addiction to a deadly habit," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said. "We are taking aggressive action to make sure the decades of progress we've made to combat tobacco addiction is not undone by a sharp rise in e-cigarette use among younger New Yorkers."

Lawmakers passed the bill in hopes of lowering the number of teens smoking, lower the rate of high schoolers using e-cigarettes and to build on the Governor's efforts to combat health threats from tobacco and e-cigarette products.

According to the Department of Health data, nearly 40 percent of 12th-grade students and 27 percent of high school students in New York State are now using e-cigarettes.

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According to the Surgeon General, 88 percent of adult smokers started using tobacco before age 18 and 90 percent of the people who purchase cigarettes for minors are between the ages of 18 and 20.

By raising the legal purchase age to 21, this legislation will help prevent underage children from obtaining tobacco products from their friends, reducing the likelihood young adults ever start smoking and become addicted, and ultimately save thousands of lives, officials say.

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