New tobacco sales age minimum starts Tuesday
Starting Tuesday, Maryland will join 17 other states and more than 485 cities and counties across the nation in increasing the minimum legal sales age to 21 for all tobacco products, including electronic smoking devices such as e-cigarettes, vapes, pod-based devices and e-liquids.
The law change comes as Maryland and other states deal with an outbreak of severe lung illnesses associated with vaping. As of Sept. 24, there were 20 such cases reported in Maryland, according to a news release.
The Maryland Department of Health is reaching out to more than 4,000 randomly selected licensed tobacco retailers across the state to help them prepare for a change in the legal sales age for tobacco products, according to the release.
The department will provide educational materials and survey retailers on what additional resources they need to adapt to changes in tobacco sales.
Earlier this month, the department launched the statewide campaign “21 or none.” New materials — including “minimum age of sale” signs and a toolkit to train staff members on new procedures for checking ID — are available for download on the Responsible Tobacco Retailer website at NoTobaccoSales ToMinors.com.
Retailers selected for participation in the survey were recently sent letters and reminder postcards with a web address to complete the short online questionnaire. Responses are anonymous, and more than 200 retailers have already participated as of Wednesday. The survey will close Monday and a follow-up survey is planned for spring 2020.
Nationally, from 2017 to 2018 alone, use of electronic smoking devices increased by 78%, according to the release.
Approximately 865,000 Marylanders use tobacco and electronic smoking devices, most of them starting before age 21 and the new law aims to protect more than a quarter of a million residents between ages 18 and 20 from developing a nicotine addiction, according to the release.
