As of Sept. 26, 2025, Arizona’s state law prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to youth (A.R.S. § 13-3622) has increased the minimum age to 21, matching federal law, which increased to 21 in 2019.
The Arizona Attorney General’s Office said that studies have shown that raising the age of sale from 18 to 21 helps to reduce the accessibility of tobacco products to youth who often obtain tobacco products from older friends or classmates.
Attorney General Mayes said, “The harm that comes from nicotine and smoking are well documented. We have a responsibility to protect the next generation of Arizonans from a life of addiction. While many Arizona businesses are already complying with the federal law, the change in our state law should serve as a reminder to all tobacco and nicotine retailers to take any steps necessary to ensure they are not selling these addictive, harmful products to anyone under the age of 21. My office continues to conduct compliance inspections across the state, and those inspections will now include youth inspectors who are both under and over 18 years of age.”
More than 85 percent of all tobacco users begin using tobacco before the age of 18, and approximately 95 percent begin using before the age of 21. People under the age of 25 are more susceptible to addiction because their brains are not fully developed. Tobacco use remains the number one preventable cause of death in the United States, causing more than 480,000 deaths every year. That number is equivalent to six passenger airplanes crashing every single day for the entire year.
