[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2411 Introduced in House (IH)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2411

 To prohibit the sale of tobacco products to individuals under the age 
                                 of 21.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 30, 2019

Ms. DeGette (for herself, Mr. Stewart, Mr. Cohen, Ms. Herrera Beutler, 
Mr. Payne, Mr. Flores, and Mr. Wittman) introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To prohibit the sale of tobacco products to individuals under the age 
                                 of 21.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Tobacco to 21 Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Tobacco use has caused more than 20,800,000 premature 
        deaths in the United States since the Surgeon General's first 
        report on smoking in 1964.
            (2) The 1964 Surgeon General's report linked cigarette 
        smoking to cancer, and since then, other tobacco products, 
        including cigars, cigarillos, roll-your-own products, and 
        smokeless tobacco have been causally linked to cancer.
            (3) While substantial gains have been made since 1964, 
        tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of death in 
        the United States, responsible for more than 480,000 premature 
        deaths each year.
            (4) Tobacco use costs the United States approximately 
        $175,000,000,000 in direct medical costs and $156,000,000,000 
        in lost productivity every year.
            (5) More than 34,000,000 people in the United States still 
        smoke, and the tobacco industry continues to challenge tobacco 
        control measures in court, manipulate products to evade 
        existing regulations, introduce new and dangerous tobacco 
        products, and spend billions of dollars on marketing to deceive 
        the public and addict more children.
            (6) An estimated 5,600,000 youth aged 17 and under are 
        projected to die prematurely from a tobacco-related illness if 
        prevalence rates do not change.
            (7) Each day in the United States, more than 2,000 youth 
        under 18 years of age smoke their first cigarette.
            (8) Use of tobacco products in any form is not safe, 
        especially during adolescence, as such use can lead to nicotine 
        dependence and subsequent tobacco-related diseases and death.
            (9) Adolescents are especially vulnerable to the effects of 
        nicotine and nicotine addiction and appear to show signs of 
        nicotine addiction at lower levels of exposure compared to 
        adults.
            (10) Nicotine exposure during adolescence may have lasting 
        adverse consequences on brain development. According to the 
        Surgeon General, the use of products containing nicotine in any 
        form among youth, including in electronic cigarettes, is 
        unsafe.
            (11) The likelihood of developing smoking-related cancers 
        increases with duration of smoking. Therefore, smokers that 
        start at younger ages and continue to smoke are at higher risk 
        for tobacco-related disease and death.
            (12) National data show that about 94 percent of adult 
        smokers begin smoking before they turn 21. The ages of 18 to 21 
        are a critical period when many smokers move from experimental 
        smoking to regular, daily use.
            (13) Three-quarters of adults in the United States favor 
        raising the tobacco age of sale to 21 years, including 7 in 10 
        smokers.
            (14) In 2018, the Surgeon General issued an advisory on the 
        electronic cigarette epidemic among youth. Electronic cigarette 
        use among high school students in the United States increased 
        78 percent from 2017 to 2018. In 2018, more than 3,600,000 
        youth, including 1 in 5 high school students and 1 in 20 middle 
        school students used electronic cigarettes.
            (15) Electronic cigarettes are the most commonly used 
        tobacco product among youth. According to the Surgeon General's 
        2016 report on electronic cigarettes, electronic cigarette use 
        is strongly associated with the use of other tobacco products 
        among youth and young adults.
            (16) The 2015 report of the National Academy of Medicine 
        entitled, ``Public Health Implications of Raising the Minimum 
        Age of Legal Access to Tobacco Products'', concluded that 
        raising the minimum legal age of sale of tobacco products 
        nationwide will reduce tobacco initiation, particularly among 
        adolescents aged 15 to 17, and will improve health across the 
        lifespan and save lives. Specifically, the report said that 
        raising the minimum legal age of sale of tobacco products 
        nationwide to age 21 would, over time, lead to a 12-percent 
        decrease in smoking prevalence.
            (17) The National Academy of Medicine report also predicts 
        that raising the minimum legal age of sale of tobacco products 
        nationwide to age 21 would result in 223,000 fewer premature 
        deaths, 45,000 fewer deaths from lung cancer, and 4,200,000 
        fewer years of life lost for those born between 2000 and 2019. 
        In addition, the report concluded that raising the minimum 
        legal age of sale would result in near immediate reductions in 
        preterm birth, low birth weight, and sudden infant death 
        syndrome.
            (18) Regulating the retail environment, actively enforcing 
        laws, and educating retailers are strategies that Federal, 
        State, and local governments can take to restrict the 
        availability of tobacco products to youth.
            (19) Twelve States, the District of Columbia, and more than 
        110 localities in an additional 15 States have raised the 
        minimum legal tobacco sale age to 21.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION AND ENFORCEMENT.

    (a) In General.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
including any Federal regulation, it shall be unlawful to sell a 
tobacco product to anyone under the age of 21 or to sell a tobacco 
product to anyone under 30 without verification of age by means of 
photo identification.
    (b) Authority To Enforce.--
            (1) In general.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services 
        (referred to in this section as the ``Secretary'') is 
        authorized to enforce the prohibition under subsection (a) and 
        shall take necessary action to enforce such prohibition, 
        including, as appropriate, conducting undercover compliance 
        checks, performing retailer inspections, initiating enforcement 
        actions for noncompliance, and taking any other measures 
        appropriate to help ensure nationwide compliance with such 
        prohibition.
            (2) Guidance.--The Secretary may issue guidance concerning 
        the responsibility of persons subject to subsection (a) to 
        ensure compliance with such prohibition.
    (c) Penalties.--
            (1) In general.--In the case of a violation of subsection 
        (a), the Secretary may apply the penalties under section 
        103(q)(2) of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control 
        Act (Public Law 111-31), as though such subsection (a) were a 
        regulation promulgated under paragraph (1) of section 906(d) of 
        the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 387f(d)), 
        notwithstanding paragraph (3)(A)(ii) of such section 906(d).
            (2) Repeated violations.--In the case of repeated 
        violations of subsection (a), alone or combined with violations 
        of other regulations promulgated under 906(d)(1) of the Federal 
        Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, the Secretary may impose a 
        penalty under section 303(f)(8) of such Act (21 U.S.C. 
        333(f)(8)), as though subsection (a) were a regulation 
        promulgated under paragraph (1) of section 906(d) of the 
        Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, notwithstanding paragraph 
        (3)(A)(ii) of such section 906(d).
    (d) Definition.--In this section, the term ``tobacco product'' has 
the meaning given such term in section 201(rr) of the Federal Food, 
Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 321(rr)).
    (e) Effective Date.--This section shall take effect on January 1, 
2020.
    (f) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be 
construed to prevent a State or local governmental entity from 
establishing, enforcing, or maintaining a law with respect to sales of 
tobacco to individuals below a minimum age, provided that such State or 
local law is in addition to, or more stringent than, Federal law.
    (g) Application.--The prohibition under subsection (a) applies only 
to a manufacturer, distributor, retailer, third-party marketplace, or 
other commercial entity that sells tobacco products.
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