Source: Health Policy Institute of Ohio
Legislation raising the legal age to purchase tobacco nearly a decade ago in Cleveland, OH, from 18 to 21 substantially reduced tobacco use among teens, a new study found (Source: “Cleveland’s Higher Legal Age to Buy Tobacco Cut Teen Use, Case Westner Reserve University School of Medicine (CWRU) Study Suggests,” Cleveland.com, July 19, 2022).
The CWRU study, published in JAMA Open Network, found a decline in youth-reported tobacco use across every tobacco product category (cigarettes, cigar products, flavored cigars, and electronic cigarettes) from 2013 to 2019.
The city of Cleveland raised the minimum age to purchase tobacco to 21 in 2016. Ohio increased the age to purchase tobacco to 21 in 2019, as the federal government did later the same year.
Between 2013 and 2015, Cleveland adolescent cigarette use increased from 7.6% to 9.1%. Cigar product use increased from 19.8% to 21.3%. But in the post-legislation period, cigarette use declined to 4.5% and cigar product use declined to 16.8%.