The sweeping defense bill signed by President Donald Trump is opening the path for many other new probabilities including a new space force and building the southern border wall. Now, there is a new bill that was pushed by the US Food and Drug administration to change the minimum age limit for consuming and procuring cigarettes or any tobacco product to be 21 years instead of 18.
The FDA noted in their website on Friday "that it is now illegal for a retailer to sell any tobacco product -- including cigarettes, cigars and e-cigarettes -- to anyone under 21. FDA will provide additional details on this issue as they become available."
The White House is seeing this as a major achievement with respect to the health sector. By December there were 19 states that raised the age limit from 18 to 21. The states included Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia and Washington.
The move helps protect the public health
Although several people did raise the question about the various aspects it is going to have, this move is precisely meant to protect the public health in several ways. This is a safe net in protecting teenagers from harmful aftermath of e-cigarettes and vaping. The Trump administration has been engaged for sometime to provide another protection layer to children from harmful substances and been holding extensive discussions on the same.
In view of the dramatic increase in the vaping related lung injuries in the US, the FDA has argued for a ban on these flavored products. A recent survey showed that there will be a rising number of high school students using e-cigarettes with high levels of nicotine in them unless curbs are imposed immediately.
In November itself, Trump had declared it saying, "We have to take care of our kids, most importantly, so we're going to have an age limit of 21 or so, so we'll be coming out with something next week very important on vaping." Now, the FDA has seen it come through as a law.
