Prevent Underage Use

Kids should not smoke, vape or use any tobacco products. It's a goal we share with public health, policy makers, parents, youth-serving organizations and many others who care about young people making healthy decisions.

Today, underage use of conventional tobacco products is at the lowest levels in a generation. In fact, the 2022 Monitoring the Future1 study estimates youth smoking rates to be 2.1 percent, a nearly 93 percent reduction from its 1997 peak of 28.3 percent. FDA regulation covers nearly every aspect of how tobacco products are manufactured, marketed and sold. Retailer compliance rates with legal age of purchase laws have risen over the past 20+ years. Today, the compliance rates hover around 90 percent.

After an alarming rise in youth e-vapor rates in 2018 and 2019, we observed a significant decline of past 30-day e-vapor use among middle and high schoolers from its peak of 20 percent in 2019 to 9.4 percent in 2022, according to the 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey.

Moving Beyond Smoking

While we recognize the progress, we understand the importance of tobacco manufacturers, regulators and policy-makers staying vigilant and acting collaboratively to prevent youth use of products intended for adults 21+.

Altria is committed to being part of the solution. Through our 2020 materiality assessment, our stakeholders reaffirmed their expectations that we continue to lead our industry in preventing underage use. The scope of our focus is intentionally broader than "preventing underage tobacco use".