Information taken from www.erowid.com

Tobacco & Nicotine

Legal Status
by Erowid
U.S. FEDERAL LAW
Caution :   All legal information should be verified through other sources. [see below]
U.S. FEDERAL LEGAL SUMMARY
Tobacco
CONTROLLED
No
STATUS
Over-The-Counter
Age Restricted
SCHEDULE
Un-Scheduled
Tobacco and tobacco products are unscheduled in the United States and are legal for adults to both sell and possess. It is against FDA regulations to sell the following products to those under the age of 18:

 
  • Cigarettes
  • Cigarette tobacco
  • Smokeless tobacco (Smokeless tobacco includes loose leaf chewing tobacco, plug chewing tobacco, twist chewing tobacco, moist snuff, and dry snuff.)


It is not federally illegal for those under 18 years old to purchase or possess tobacco...only for stores to sell to them. Some individual states have enacted legislation making possession by minors against the law.

See the FDA's New Federal Tobacco Regulations regarding children and tobacco.

 

U.S. STATE LAW
Generally in the US, most states now require tobacco products be purchased by those age 18 or over, in some states (such as Alaska), the age requirement is 19. There are some groups who advocate raising the legal minimum age to 21.

 
INTERNATIONAL LAW
Italy
Minimum Age: 18 to purchase. Regulated by state monopoly and growing tobacco requires licensure from the government -- DiO-LeCclo.
If you have information about the legal status of this substance in any other country, please let us know.

 
CAUTION & DISCLAIMER
Erowid legal information is a summary of data gathered from site visitors, government documents, websites, and other resources. We are not lawyers and can not guarantee the accuracy of the information provided here. We do our best to keep this information correct and up-to-date, but laws are complex and constantly changing. Laws may also vary from one jurisdiction to another (county, state, country, etc)...this list is not comprehensive.