Vaping has grown so fast over the years that it has been gradually replacing smoking as the safest nicotine intake method. Many people want to know the legal age to vape. In addition, many curious teenagers find vaping very popular and this has prompted countries to set a legal age to vape . Firstly, let’s emphasize that vaping is intended for smokers who want to quit this dangerous habit and never as a toy for curious teenagers. Therefore, most of countries have been regulating vaping to control the age of consumers. Enforcing a legal age isn’t completely effective, but at least it helps to control the access of teens to nicotine products.
Vaping: What is the Legal Age to Vape?
On December 2019, the President Trump signed legislation to amend the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to raise the federal minimum age of sale of tobacco products from 18 to 21 years.
This law applies for all states even if they have not passed their own Tobacco 21 laws. According to FDA, they will conduct inspections to control that no retailer sells tobacco products (including e-cigarettes) to underage purchasers. The FDA states as follows “If, during these inspections, a tobacco product is sold to an underage purchaser, FDA sends the retailer a Compliance Check Inspection Notice. This notice, which is not an official action, promptly provides the retailer with information including, but not limited to, the retailer’s establishment name and address, the time and date of the inspection, and a statement that a potentially violative inspection occurred at the establishment”.
The Tobacco 21 laws was enacted to prevent sales of e-cigarettes and e-cigarette product to people under 21. However, all states had their restrictions on tobacco products before this federal law was enacted.
Increasing the legal age to vape will not impact positively youth’s health. According to one study it will even increase by about one percent youth smoking participation.
The legal age to vape, buy e-cigarettes and vaping products is 21 years. The Tobacco 21 law had an immediate effect in the whole country.
Does it Apply to all Vaping Products?
E-cigarettes (vapes) as well as e-liquids, regardless of nicotine content, are considered tobacco products and cannot be sold to anyone under 21. In other words, Tobacco 21 law applies to non-nicotine e-liquids as well, including non-nicotine e-liquids and also CBD e-juices.
The legal age of vaping is 18 for most of countries. The exception here is Belgium with a legal age of 16 and United States, Palau, Philippines, or Honduras (21 years).
The following list will help you to consult the legal age to vape by country:
| Country | Legal age to vape |
| Belgium | 18 |
| Bulgaria | 18 |
| Canada | 18 |
| China | 18 |
| Costa Rica | 18 |
| Croatia | 18 |
| Cyprus | 18 |
| Denmark | 18 |
| Ecuador | 18 |
| Estonia | 18 |
| Fiji | 18 |
| Finland | 18 |
| France | 18 |
| Georgia | 18 |
| Germany | 18 |
| Greece | 18 |
| Honduras | 21 |
| Ireland | 18 |
| Italy | 18 |
| Lithuania | 18 |
| Luxembourg | 18 |
| Malaysia | 18 |
| Maldives | 18 |
| Moldova | 18 |
| Netherlands | 18 |
| New Zealand | 18 |
| Norway | 18 |
| Philippines | 21 |
| Palau | 21 |
| Poland | 18 |
| Portugal | 18 |
| Republif of Korea | 19 |
| Slovenia | 18 |
| Sweden | 18 |
| Tajikistan | 18 |
| Togo | 18 |
| Vietnam | 18 |
| United Kingdom | 18 |
| United States | 21 |
Legal Age to Vape: Conclusion
Most of countries allow people over 18 to vape while just Palau, United States, Honduras and Philippines have stricter rules as they only allow people over 21 years to vape.
There is no scientific consensus about the most suitable age to vape. However, there are some studies claiming that harder rules on vaping increases the likelihood that teens try or initiate in the smoking habit.
