Banning tobacco sales to under 21s reduces smoking, study finds

Local US laws banning the sale of tobacco to people aged under 21 have reduced smoking among 18-20 year olds, a study has found.1

Researchers from Yale University examined the impact of “tobacco 21” policies and found that they decreased the likelihood of an 18-20 year old becoming an established smoker by an estimated 1.2 percentage points, as compared with young people who were not exposed to the policies.

Meanwhile, the team found no significant change in the likelihood of smoking among 23-25 year olds in policy exposed areas, …