Public support for raising the age of sale for tobacco to 21 in the United States.
OBJECTIVES
The vast majority of tobacco users began before the age of 21. Raising the tobacco sales age to 21 has the potential to reduce tobacco use initiation and progression to regular smoking. Our objective was to assess the level of public support nationally for 'Tobacco 21' initiatives in the USA.


METHODS
The Social Climate Survey of Tobacco Control, a cross-sectional dual-frame survey representing national probability samples of adults was administered in 2013. Respondents were asked to state their agreement level with, 'The age to buy tobacco should be raised to 21.'


RESULTS
Of 3245 respondents, 70.5% support raising the age to buy tobacco to 21. The majority of adults in every demographic and smoking status category supported raising the tobacco sales age to 21. In multivariable analyses, support was highest among never smokers, females, African-Americans and older adults.


CONCLUSIONS
This national study demonstrates broad public support for raising the sales age of tobacco to 21 and will help facilitate wide dissemination of initiatives to increase the legal purchase age at national, state and local levels. Increasing public awareness about the susceptibility and rapid addiction of youth to nicotine may further increase public support for raising the tobacco sale age to 21.
['Winickoff|Jonathan P|JP|', 'McMillen|Robert|R|', 'Tanski|Susanne|S|', 'Wilson|Karen|K|', 'Gottlieb|Mark|M|http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8679-307X', 'Crane|Robert|R|']
D000328:Adult D000367:Age Factors D000368:Aged D003132:Commerce D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies D005260:Female D033161:Government Regulation D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D015999:Multivariate Analysis D011050:Policy Making D011634:Public Health D011639:Public Opinion D012907:Smoking D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires D062789:Tobacco Products D014481:United States D055815:Young Adult
End game Prevention Public opinion