US Increases Age Limit, Smokers Must Show Photo Identity Cards To Buy Tobacco Products

Illustration. (Unsplash/@hamza82359)

JAKARTA - The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requires more people to show a photo identity card when buying tobacco products, as health regulators raise the requirements for verification of the age of three.

As part of the rules set by the agency on Thursday, the FDA now requires retailers to verify the age of anyone under 30 as they buy tobacco products, from previously under 27.

The FDA also said retailers cannot sell tobacco products through automatic seller machines in places visited or allowed by individuals under the age of 21, from the previous 18 years.

Uncle Sam's country is known to have cracked down on tobacco use over the past few years to curb preventable deaths from smoking and other products, as well as stop the use of electric cigarettes by minors.

"For decades science has shown that keeping tobacco products away from young people is very important to reduce the number of people who end up becoming addicted to this product," said Brian King, director of the FDA Tobacco Product Center.

Previously, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in May that tobacco companies were trying to attract a new generation of interest in nicotine by actively targeting them through social media, sports and music festivals.

The FDA has raised the minimum age for tobacco use to 21 years from 18 years in 2019.

According to the American Lung Association, smoking kills more than 480,000 people per year in the United States, making it the country's main preventable cause of death.