Underage cigarette and vape sales increase while Wisconsin law lags behind
Eva WenNearly 1 in 7 Wisconsin teenagers and young adults who tried to buy tobacco or vape products while underage were successful in 2023, a rate that has more than doubled since 2019.
Every year, a group of people between the ages of 16 and 20 attempt to buy tobacco or vape products from 1,100 random retailers in Wisconsin.
They are not buying for themselves, though. Instead, they are employed by the University of Wisconsin Survey Center to help the state health department get a sense of how many retailers are selling to underage customers despite federal law.
In 2023, underage buyers in Wisconsin had a success rate of 13.6%, an increase from their 11.9% success rate in 2022.
Since the federal government raised the legal age to purchase tobacco from 18 to 21 at the end of 2019, most state governments have updated their state law to match the federal law. But Wisconsin is among eight states where legislators have tried to update the state law without success.
As a result, some retailers and young customers are confused about who can legally buy tobacco products in Wisconsin and what consequences they could face.
Patrick Remington, professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health, said the rate of underage tobacco sales is going in the wrong direction.
“It’s more than just a minimal change,” Remington said. “To me, that would be cause to certainly redouble the efforts to vendors and sellers to comply with federal law.”
Cigarette use is down, but vaping has gained popularity among youth
For public health experts like Remington, raising the legal age for purchasing tobacco to 21 was a much-needed step forward.
Studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other national research centers show that raising the legal smoking age from 18 to 21 can reduce the number of people who become addicted to nicotine. For teenagers and young adults, whose brains are still under development, the nicotine in tobacco is much more addictive than it is for older adults.
In Wisconsin, public health experts say the ease of buying tobacco products while underage partly offsets nationwide efforts to reduce nicotine addiction. Instead, it exposes more people to the possibility of future nicotine addiction and illnesses caused by smoking and vaping.
Although the use of traditional cigarettes has decreased over the past decade, vaping has rapidly gained popularity among teenagers and young adults.
Initially dubbed as a healthier alternative to help smokers quit, vaping is now the number one choice among teenagers who use tobacco products.
According to Michael Fiore, founder of Wisconsin Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention, the tobacco industry has fine-tuned its marketing efforts to youth. They do this by depicting smokers as young, popular movie stars that teenagers and young adults can relate to, Fiore said.
“Each year [in the U.S.], half a million people die from diseases directly caused by smoking. The tobacco industry has to replace those smokers,” Fiore said. “There’s plenty of tobacco industry documents that show the way you replace smokers is you get young people addicted, particularly in their teens.”
Seeing peers vape and experiencing the variety of vape flavors also makes it easier for young people to get into the habit, according to public health experts.
Vaping gives users a feeling of euphoria without the harsh taste of traditional cigarettes, according to Dr. Brian Williams, a pediatric hospitalist at UW Health. Williams said he has witnessed young people experiencing withdrawal symptoms when staying in the hospital.
“Oftentimes it’s agitation and irritability, difficulty concentrating," Williams said. "Youth report feeling nauseous, cold and clammy. You can get a little bit of tremors.”
Many young people will continue to use tobacco products well into their adulthood, according to experts.
Long-term use of vaping products exposes users to cancer-causing chemicals. It also correlates with increased asthma-like symptoms and potential decreased fertility.
Wisconsin is one of eight states that has not raised the legal age to buy tobacco products
Most tobacco retailers and store managers know that the federal law is the law they need to follow.
So what difference does it make that the state law still puts the legal age at 18?
The answer is enforcement. Although the federal law is the one that applies, state and local governments do not have the authority to enforce the age requirement or conduct more frequent inspections until Wisconsin updates its law.
Instead, only a small group of U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspectors can ensure that smoke shops are following the federal law by issuing warnings and financial penalties. In fiscal year 2023, the FDA visited over 2,000 tobacco retailers in Wisconsin, found one in five in violation, and issued fines to 80 that were found in violation multiple times.
To Remington, the contradiction between public health and tobacco companies' commercial interests is a constant struggle in politics.
“I think the reason why Wisconsin hasn’t increased the age to 21 is there’s commercial interests and people saying an 18-year-old should be able to smoke cigarettes,” Remington said.
Over her years working in tobacco prevention at the state Department of Health Services, communications specialist Gina Larsen sees increased prices as the most effective way to curb tobacco usage.
“There’s no legal product in America that kills half of the people that use it,” Fiore said. “But cigarettes do.”
Larsen believes there’s more to do when it comes to e-cigarettes.
Wisconsin stands to lose millions in federal substance abuse prevention funding if the underage tobacco sales rate exceeds 20%, according to Larsen.
“[Smoking] used to be hidden, and now it’s cool and it’s a fashion statement,” said Larsen. “And you don’t want smoking to become everyday, expected and accepted.”