The North Carolina Child Fatality Task Force is recommending raising the tobacco sales age to 21 and implementing stricter sales regulations.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — There’s a new push to raise the age for tobacco sales in North Carolina from 18 to 21 after a new state report found more than one in five high schoolers are vaping.
The North Carolina Child Fatality Task Force released its annual report to the governor and General Assembly this month, including several recommendations for lawmakers. Those suggestions include raising the age of tobacco sales, supporting legislation to prevent children from accessing cannabis, expanding the early child care system and strengthening laws addressing the storage of firearms to protect children.
On Monday, North Carolina Poison Control released new data showing that cases of children being exposed to cannabis in 2024 were double that of 2020.
The CFTF says raising the legal age of tobacco sales would align with federal law and require the license of tobacco retailers. The agency says more than one in five North Carolina high school students vape, and for 12th graders, it’s one in three. One in 10 middle school students are vaping, researchers found.
The report outlines the harmful impacts of nicotine, including addiction and possible death for children.
According to the report, North Carolina is one of seven states that don’t align with the federal minimum age of 21 for tobacco sales and one of nine states nationwide that don’t require retailers to obtain a license or permit to sell tobacco.
Licensing of tobacco retailers is a measure to reduce tobacco sales to youth that has been supported by the CDC and Surgeon General, the CFTF said.
A CDC report in October found that teen smoking hit an all-time low in the U.S. in 2024. A previously reported drop in vaping largely explains the overall decline in tobacco use from 10% to about 8% of students, health officials said. The results came from an annual CDC survey, which included nearly 30,000 middle and high school students at 283 schools. The response rate this year was about 33%.
