Tobacco 21

Tobacco 21 is a national campaign aimed at raising the minimum legal age (MLA) for tobacco and nicotine sales in the United States to 21. The Tobacco 21 campaign is produced and funded by the Preventing Tobacco Addiction Foundation, a public health nonprofit organization established in 1996. Tobacco 21 produces online content to promote anti-tobacco messages and helps communities around the United States raise the tobacco and nicotine sales age to 21.

Several national non-profit organizations, including the American Cancer Society in Oregon, have showed their support for raising the tobacco and nicotine sales age to 21 in different states.

Established in 1996, the Preventing Tobacco Addiction Foundation strives to reduce the terrible toll of smoking and tobacco use through a preventive effort.

Early exposure permanently alters neuro-receptors in the deepest, most ancient parts of the brain that then manifests as ongoing desire or addiction. Preventing that early inoculation requires a concerted societal and political strategy including school-based education, reduced media exposure, counter-marketing, tobacco and smoke free homes and public areas and youth access restrictions. Tobacco 21 vigorously supports all of those efforts in addition to our focus on raising the legal minimum sales age to 21.

The major scientific publication in support of Tobacco 21 is the Institute of Medicine's report "Public Health Implications of Raising the Minimum Age of Legal Access to Tobacco Products", which concluded by saying:" if the MLA were raised now to 21 nationwide, there would be approximately 223,000 fewer premature deaths, 50,000 fewer deaths from lung cancer, and 4.2 million fewer years of life lost for those born between 2000 and 2019."

An editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine called Tobacco 21 "An idea whose time has come".

The following organizations have endorsed Tobacco 21 at the national level, either through their own statements or through endorsement of Senate Bill 2100, the federal act to raise the tobacco age to 21:

Hawaii’s Tobacco 21 bill was signed by Governor David Ige and raised the legal age to purchase tobacco products, including electronic smoking devices, to 21, beginning on January 1, 2016.

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