Five Years After Connecticut Raised the Age to Buy Tobacco, Fewer Youths Smoking

October 1 marked the five-year anniversary of Connecticut’s law increasing the age of access to purchase tobacco from 18 to 21, a shift intended to fight youth smoking and vaping rates. In that time, youth smoking rates have plummeted, suggesting that the increase has kept tobacco products out of schools and preserved young lungs.

Raising the age of access was an important focus from lawmakers in the late 2010s due to the sharp rise in use of e-cigarettes and vapes among high schoolers. From 2015 to 2017, the rates of high schoolers using vapes doubled, and decades of anti-smoking efforts and education were at risk of being countered by eased access to products delivering nicotine to users almost immediately. Lawmakers focused on the age of access among other anti-smoking efforts as a way to reduce tobacco access in schools, as 18-20 year-olds still in school or involved in activities after graduation could provide underage students with tobacco products.

Since the state increased the age of tobacco – a trend that went national, with federal lawmakers raising the age of access in all 50 states months later – youth vaping rates have fallen significantly. According to the state’s Youth Risk Behavior and Youth Tobacco Surveys, high school students smoking daily dropped more than 18% from 2019 to 2023, with daily use of vapes and e-cigarettes dropping 40% in that time. Overall, Connecticut high schoolers using tobacco regularly (at least once a month) fell from 27.6% in 2019 to 12.7% in 2023.

State Sen. Saud Anwar, D-South Windsor, recently addressed a group of students at East Hartford’s Sunset Ridge Middle School with East Hartford leaders including Rep. Henry Genga, Mayor Connor Martin and Superintendent Thomas Anderson.

“As a lung doctor, I have worked on a number of patients who experienced lung damage from smoking at a young age,” Anwar said. “For smoking, the younger you are, the higher your chances of lifelong addiction which can harm your health. Making tobacco harder for youths to access is an important step forward for our state and nation in improving public health and preventing future health consequences for so many.”

Preventing youth smoking is a primary goal in anti-smoking efforts as smokers are most likely to be lifelong tobacco users if they pick up the habit before turning 21. The organization 21 for a Reason reported that 85% of adults who smoke daily did so as teenagers or earlier, while 80% of regular smokers pick up the habit before they turn 21. Nicotine can impact developing brains, lowering impulse control and reducing attention spans, which can increase the long-term odds of addiction.

While progress is strong in reducing youth smoking, tobacco products are still being used by more than one in every ten students statewide, Meanwhile, tobacco smoke is a leading cause of preventable death and disability in the United States. Smoking kills just under 5,000 residents each year

Posted By Joe O’Leary