Skip to content
Subscriber Only
Business

Walgreens Will Raise Age to 21 for Buying Tobacco Products

  • Rite Aid also will increase its tobacco purchasing age to 21
  • Senate majority leader wants to raise minimum age mationally
Views Of Phillip Morris International Inc. Cigarettes Ahead Of Earnings Figures

Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg

Updated on

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc., facing criticism for selling tobacco products to minors, said it will lift the age for purchasing cigarettes and vaping devices to 21 in its more than 9,500 drugstores.

The move comes amid a surge in youth vaping that has alarmed public health officials. Last week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said he wants Congress to raise the minimum age for buying tobacco products, including nicotine vaping devices, to 21 from 18 nationwide. Some states have already done so.