NEWPORT – Starting September 1, Vermonters must be at least 21 years old to purchase and possess tobacco products or paraphernalia.
The new law also includes tobacco-substitute products, such as e-cigarettes.
Health officials say the increase in buying age will help protect youth from nicotine addiction and potentially toxic chemicals.
Commonly known as Tobacco 21, the new law is expected to reduce smoking rates over time.
“We’ve made great strides against tobacco use, but the popularity of e-cigarettes and vaping continues to skyrocket among our youth,” said Health Commissioner Mark Levine, MD. “We are also seeing evidence of increasing rates of health problems associated with vaping.”
With the enactment of Act 27, Vermont joins 17 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and more than 480 municipalities with a Tobacco 21 law.
…So let me get this straight. From the ages of seventeen (Parental consent), to twenty-one, Americans can bear the responsibility to fight and die for our nation in battle, but smoking during that age is what…Irresponsible and detrimental to ones health?…This law sounds like politicians desperate to justify their pitiful existence devoid of any common sense…Politics in this country has become nothing other than a clown show and gives a new & truer meaning to, “Send In The Clowns”.