Walmart to Raise Tobacco Age to 21 -- Update
May 08 2019 - 11:35AM
Dow Jones News
By Sarah Nassauer and Jennifer Maloney
Walmart Inc. said it is raising the minimum age to purchase
tobacco products to 21 in all its stores and will stop selling
fruit-flavored e-cigarettes, amid pressure from regulators and
others working to curb use by children and teens.
In April, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration called out the
country's largest retailer for being a top violator of illegally
selling tobacco products to minors. The FDA sent similar letters to
Family Dollar, which is owned by Dollar Tree Corp., Kroger Co. and
others.
The new sales restrictions will start July 1 across all
Walmart's locations, including its warehouse chain Sam's Club,
Walmart said Wednesday.
E-cigarette startups like Juul Labs Inc. selling nicotine
liquids with fruit and dessert flavors such as mango and creme have
contributed to a spike in underage use, according to the FDA. Juul
says its products are intended for adults and supports raising the
minimum purchase age to 21 nationwide.
The action follows similar moves by other retailers in the wake
of FDA criticism and bills introduced in the House and Senate that
would raise the minimum age to purchase tobacco nationwide to 21
from 18.
"While we have implemented a robust compliance program, we are
not satisfied with falling short of our companywide goal" of zero
tobacco sales to minors, said John Scudder, chief compliance and
ethics officer for Walmart U.S.
In a response letter to the FDA, Walmart said it has increased
disciplinary action against store workers who fail to check IDs for
shoppers who appear to be under 40, in line with company policies.
It is also using virtual-reality headsets to train more workers to
avoid underage tobacco sales, said the letter.
Youth use of e-cigarettes jumped 78% from 2017 to 2018 -- to one
out of every five high-school students, according to a federal
survey. The most common way children and teens obtain e-cigarettes
is from someone they know, the FDA says.
Proponents of raising the minimum purchase age to 21 say it
ensures that high-school students don't have classmates who can
purchase e-cigarettes for them. The FDA in March issued new sales
restrictions, not yet implemented, that would effectively ban
bricks-and-mortar stores from selling e-cigarettes in the sweet and
fruity flavors the agency says are appealing to children.
Walmart is discontinuing the sale of dessert- and fruit-flavored
e-cigarettes in response to FDA research, the retailer said in its
letter to the agency.
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. and Rite Aid Corp. in April said
they would raise the minimum age required for customers to buy
tobacco products in their stores to 21, up from 18 in most
states.
Write to Sarah Nassauer at sarah.nassauer@wsj.com and Jennifer
Maloney at jennifer.maloney@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 08, 2019 12:20 ET (16:20 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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