Walgreens, Rite Aid Raise Age For Tobacco-Buying To Match DC

Editor's note: A previous version of this article did not note that it is already currently against D.C. law to sell tobacco products to consumers under the age of 21. The article has been updated to reflect that.

Consumers under the age of 21 are not allowed to buy tobacco products in the District due to D.C. law, and now Walgreens and Rite Aid have announced they are raising the age to all of their stores nationwide to that age limit as well.

Walgreens and Rite Aid have 10 and 6 locations in D.C., respectively. D.C. residents won't be affected by the change, since the limit is already 21 here.

Beginning Sept. 1 in the rest of the nation, Walgreens will stop selling tobacco products to people who aren’t legally allowed to drink alcohol. Rite Aid will do the same, and plans to implement the policy at all stores by July 22.

Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable disease, disability and death among Americans, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of 2017, about 34 million adults smoked cigarettes, and nearly 90 percent of smokers tried their first smoke by age 18.

In D.C., about 31.4 percent of high schoolers said they used tobacco, including e-cigarettes.

For Rite Aid, the move represents a key step in the company’s efforts to make sure kids and teens don’t get their hands on the addictive substance.

"By raising the purchase age, we are furthering our commitment to promoting responsible access to tobacco products,” Bryan Everett, chief operating officer of Rite Aid Corporation, said in a news release.

Both Rite Aid and Walgreens previously implemented policies requiring clerks to ask for an ID on all purchases of age-restricted items, including tobacco products, and both offer support to tobacco-users who want to quit. Studies show local laws that raise the minimum age to 21 result in a sharp decline in tobacco use among adults 18-20 years old.

“We’ve seen positive results from other recent efforts to strengthen our policies related to tobacco sales, and believe this next step can be even more impactful to reduce its use among teens and young adults,” Richard Ashworth, Walgreens president of operations, said in a news release.

The move comes after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration accused certain locations of Walgreens and Circle K Stores of repeatedly selling tobacco products to kids, including cigars and menthol cigarettes. The FDA singled out Walgreens as a top offender among pharmacies that sell tobacco products, saying 22 percent of inspected stores sold tobacco to youths.

Scott Gottlieb, who recently resigned as the head of the FDA, said in a release that everyone plays a role in keeping harmful and addictive tobacco products out of the hands of kids.

“Retailers in particular – especially those who position themselves as health-and-wellness-minded businesses – are on the frontlines of these efforts and must take that legal obligation seriously,” said Gottlieb. “I’m also deeply disturbed that a single pharmacy chain racked up almost 1,800 violations for selling tobacco products to minors across the country.”

About a dozen states — in addition to hundreds of cities — have raised the tobacco-buying age to 21, according to The New York Times. In 2014, CVS notably became the first national retail pharmacy chain to stop selling tobacco products in all stores.

Patch national staffer Dan Hampton contributed to this report.