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REPORT BRIEF MARCH 2015 Public Health INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES Advising the nation • Improving health Implications of Raising the Minimum Age of Legal Access to Tobacco Products Over the past 50 years, tobacco control in the United States has led to an esti- mated 8 million fewer premature deaths. However, tobacco use continues to significantly affect public health, and more than 40 million Americans still smoke. In 2009, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act granted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) broad authorities over tobacco products, though it prohibited FDA from establishing a nationwide minimum age of legal access—an MLA for tobacco products—above 18 years of age. It also directed FDA to convene a panel of experts to conduct a study on the public health implications of raising the minimum age to purchase tobacco products. At FDA's request, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) convened a com- mittee in 2013 for this purpose. In the resulting report, Public Health Implications of Raising the Minimum Age of Legal Access to Tobacco Products, the committee of experts reviews existing literature on tobacco use initiation, developmental biology and psy- chology, and tobacco policy and predicts the likely public health outcomes of raising the MLA for tobacco products to 19 years, 21 years, and 25 years. The committee also uses mathematical modeling to quantify these predictions. Of note, the report contains only conclusions regarding raising the MLA; as requested by FDA, the committee does not offer recommendations as to whether the MLA should be raised. ...tobacco use continues to significantly affect public health, and more than 40 million Americans still smoke.