FOX CROSSING, WIS — The age to buy tobacco and vaping products has just been changed to 21-years-old. Just last week the federal government put the new law into effect.
Usually new legislation that is passed doesn't take effect immediately. But this change to the legal age to buy tobacco went into effect instantly. And today local law enforcement is tasked with trying to get up to speed with the new law.
Today NBC26 spoke with the Fox Crossing Police Department about the challenges of enforcing a federal law that was just passed. They say even though the legal age to buy tobacco products jumped to the age of 21 according to the federal government, their department will need to see their community’s current ordinances change at a local level before they begin enforcing the federal law change. That being said though, there are other ways that businesses and even individuals could be fined for breaking the federal rule.
"We don't have the ordinance enacted for us to enforce that immediately. Now whether there is another government agency from the state or federal level that could enforce it, that's another story," says Dan Wiechman of the Fox Crossing Police Department.
We reached out to nearly 10 different police departments in northeast Wisconsin and only the Fox Crossing Police Department was willing to go on camera and comment on the change. That's likely in part due to the fact that there is a lot of gray area in how this new federal law, is being enforced today.
