A new study in the United States has examined the impact of raising the legal age for tobacco sales from 18 to 21. The results show significant reductions in the use of both regular cigarettes and e-cigarettes among high school students.
The study, published in the Journal of Health Economics, used data from 2012 to 2019 and found that tobacco sales decreased by 12.4% for regular cigarettes and by 69.3% for e-cigarettes in areas that introduced the so-called 'Tobacco 21' legislation. T21 raised the age limit for buying tobacco products from 18 to 21.
Raising the age limit and ID checks
The researchers behind the study, Rahi Abouk, Prabal K. De and Michael F. Pesko, used both survey data from Monitoring the Future and sales data from Nielsen Retail Scanner to analyze the impact of the legislation. The study focused in particular on young people in the 12th grade - the equivalent of the third year of upper secondary school in Sweden. The researchers also investigated the mechanisms behind the effects of the T21 laws, such as increased ID checks at the point of purchase and changing risk perceptions around tobacco products.
21-year limit supported by many
The report starts from the fact that tobacco use is a significant health risk in the United States and that the majority of smokers start before the age of 21.
"By raising the age limit to that age, we can try to reduce tobacco use among young people and thus prevent earlier onset and dependence," the researchers write.
T21 laws have been implemented at both local and state levels. The changes to the law have received support from various sources, including prevention organizations and health experts.
There was a clear decline in use
The study finds that T21 laws have a clear effect on tobacco use among young people, with particularly large reductions among '12th graders' aged 17-18. The researchers believe that this effect may be partly linked to increased ID checks on purchases and changing risk perceptions around tobacco products. The findings are claimed to be of relevance to future tobacco policy and may help to inform policy makers about the effectiveness of different measures to reduce tobacco use among young people.
Better desired effect than ban
One of the researchers, Michael Pesko, has previously led studies that examined the link between taste bans and tax increases for e-cigarettes in relation to cigarette sales. These studies have shown that cigarette sales among young people and minors actually increased as restrictions on e-cigarettes were introduced.
