On December 20, 2019 President Trump signed into law the U.S. Food and Drug Administration‘s (FDA) law to change the federal minimum age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21. It is now illegal for companies to sell tobacco products to anyone under the age of 21. The main reason the FDA changed the age to 21 is to help prevent deaths and illnesses among teenagers. 

Teenagers around the country are not happy with the new law because 18-year-olds were buying vaping products and buying for younger teenagers. I spoke to an 18-year-old, who goes to East, to see how they felt about the new law and they said, “I feel like it is unfair because I am an adult and I can legally buy a gun but I can’t buy nicotine.” This brought up a good point because when you turn 18 you are legally an adult, yet you can not buy nicotine products, but you can buy firearms. Overall, teenagers are unhappy with the new law.