TUESDAY, Dec. 17, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- A provision to raise the U.S. minimum age to buy tobacco products from 18 to 21 years has been inserted into the end-of-year spending bill in Congress.
"It shall be unlawful for any retailer to sell a tobacco product to any person younger than 21 years of age," the provision reads, CBS News reported.
Nineteen states have already increased the age to buy tobacco products to 21, including Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington, in addition to the District of Columbia.
The bill also includes $25 million of funding for gun violence research at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health. Congress has not provided funding for gun violence research in 20 years, CBS News reported.
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