Governor Reynolds signs tobacco 21 bill into law
by Trinity Muscatine Public Health
November 16, 2020

DES MOINES, IOWA–Governor Kim Reynolds today signed a bill into law that raises the legal age to purchase cigarettes, and tobacco and vaping products, to 21. The Iowa Senate passed the bill in March of this year, but the legislative recess due to COVID-19 kept the Iowa House from taking up the bill until June 11.

“This law brings Iowa into alignment with the federal Tobacco 21 bill, which was signed into law in December 2019,” said Iowa Department of Public Health Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Division Director Jerilyn Oshel. The bill includes no exemptions for the Iowa or federal law.

Under the law, retailers may not sell or supply covered tobacco products to a person under 21 years of age and a person under 21 years may not possess, purchase or attempt to purchase a covered tobacco product.

According to the 2018 Iowa Youth Survey, almost 1 in 4 11th graders use some form of tobacco or vaping product. For more information about tobacco control efforts in Iowa, visit https://www.idph.iowa.gov/tupc.

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