(The Center Square) – Wisconsin remains one of just six states without a state law matching the federal age to purchase tobacco products at 21.
That creates an issue for local law enforcement, who cannot enforce the age 21 restriction when state law says you have to be 18 to purchase tobacco.
A group of Wisconsin lawmakers is working to change that with Assembly Bill 524, which will be in front of the Assembly Committee on State Affairs for a vote on Wednesday.
“Wisconsin’s failure to update its own law creates confusion for retailers and law enforcement who face conflicting regulations,” Rep. Jeffrey Mursau, R-Crivitz, said in a public hearing on the bill.
He said that Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota and Iowa have all passed laws moving the age to purchase tobacco to 21.
The Wisconsin Department of Public Health Services said that there was a decline in tobacco sales to underage consumers from 13.6% in 2023 to 11.8% in 2024.
In 2019, when the federal law changed late in the year, the underage sale rate was 5.5% before it reached its highest point in 2021 when the rate was 14.1%.
“We are glad to see a decline in overall sales of tobacco and vape products to underage kids, yet the rate remains too high,” State Health Officer Paula Tran said in a statement earlier this year. “We know that more than 80% of adult smokers started before the age of 18, and about 95% of them before turning 21. This is why it is so important to continue the work to prevent young people from starting to use commercial tobacco and nicotine products to protect their health today and long into the future.”
Several lawmakers and groups showed support for the bill and the Wisconsin Department of Revenue recommended a technical change to the bill’s language because it could make asthma inhalers illegal for sale in the state.
“I have heard from both law enforcement and public health officials in my district with concerns about their inability to enforce the tobacco 21 law and the need to update the state law to align with the federal law,” said Rep. Karen Hurd, R-Withee.
