Increasing the minimum age of sale for tobacco products to at least 21 years old will significantly reduce youth tobacco use and save lives. It’s an important component of a comprehensive public health approach to reducing tobacco use.
After the Federal Tobacco 21 law was signed and went into effect in late 2019, the Indiana General Assembly passed legislation of its own. Indiana’s law took effect on 7/1/2020. This new law increases the minimum age of sale to 21 and includes all tobacco products including non-combustible tobacco products, e-cigarette devices, and e-liquid. Indiana’s law goes beyond federal legislation by introducing penalties for possession, use, and purchase of these products while underage. It also requires changes to required signs posted in retail areas for these products including where tobacco vending machines are present. Indiana’s law increases penalties on retail entities (doubles the fines from previous legislation for each level of citations and increases the lookback period). It is a Class B misdemeanor if a retailer has been found to sell to underage customers 6 or more times in the last year.