Enforcement of Tobacco 21 laws was the subject of a paper co-authored by ASPiRE’s
Amanda Kong. Researchers focused on New Jersey, one of several states that increased
the tobacco age-of-sale to 21 prior to passage of the federal law in 2019. The study sent five
buyers aged 18-20 to 86 retailers between August 2019 and March 2020. The underage
buyers successfully bought tobacco in 42 percent of visits, but only 14 percent of visits
resulted in a purchase when the buyers were asked to show ID. “Carding may be the most
important deterrent to underage sales given the strength of its association with purchasing,”
the authors wrote. “However, even when identification was checked, underage purchases
still occurred.” The authors recommend strong enforcement of age verification requirements
and consideration of additional policies to further reduce underage access to tobacco. Read the paper.