Following scrutiny from the Food and Drug Administration in February, Walgreens announced earlier this week it will be raising the minimum age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21.

The policy will become effective Sept. 1, the company said in the press release and follows the trend of states passing legislation to raise the legal age to 21 to purchase tobacco products.

“We've seen positive results from other recent efforts to strengthen our policies related to tobacco sales, and believe this next step can be even more impactful to reduce its use among teens and young adults,” Walgreens' president of operations Richard Ashworth said in the press release.

In February, former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb put Walgreens on notice by filing two complaints which sought to bar a Walgreens store in Charleston, South Carolina, from selling tobacco products for 30 days. Gottlieb said at the time the company had racked up almost 1,800 violations for selling tobacco to minors across the country.

A spokesperson for Walgreens declined to comment beyond the press release.

Matthew L. Myers, president of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said in a statement that Walgreens should not be selling tobacco at all.

“As a family pharmacy and health care provider, Walgreens shouldn't be selling tobacco products, period,” Myers said in the statement. “They should have followed CVS's lead and ended tobacco sales long ago. Tobacco 21 is quickly becoming the law around the country due to the actions of states and cities, so Walgreens' announcement is simply a recognition of this growing trend.”

Myers added Walgreens should recognize the “fundamental conflict” between being a pharmacy and selling tobacco products with the use of these products considered the top reason for preventable deaths.

The decision to raise the age to 21 comes at a time where state houses are introducing and passing legislation to make the legal age to purchase tobacco 21. According to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, there are 12 states with laws on the books that bar anyone under the age of 21 from purchasing tobacco products. Those states are Hawaii, California, New Jersey, Oregon, Maine, Massachusetts, Arkansas, Illinois, Virginia, Delaware, Washington and Utah.

Scott Schlesinger, the founding attorney of Schlesinger Law Offices in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, said the idea of tobacco 21 laws could be one of the most significant public health moves the country has made. But many of these laws are without teeth, he said, and punish the buyer over the seller of the tobacco products.

“Tobacco 21 is critically important,” Schlesinger said. “Especially when it applies to all nicotine devices. It has to be worded in such a way that there are enforcement provisions.”

The idea behind tobacco 21 laws is that when those who are 18 are allowed to purchase tobacco products, they will share them with and buy them for their younger peers. Those who are 21 are less likely to hang around teenagers, Schlesinger explained. He said studies have shown that when someone who waits until they are 21 to smoke a cigarette are much less likely to become addicted to nicotine.

Companies like Juul, Altria and Philip Morris have supported the tobacco 21 bills across the country. However, Bryan Haynes, a partner at Troutman Sanders in Washington, D.C., said the industry is not totally aligned on the tobacco 21 laws.

“One segment of the industry, those who support it, might say it's a good faith gesture to address the issue of youth tobacco consumption,” Haynes said. “The opposite side of the industry would argue that it really isn't a solution and the solution is to more aggressively enforce laws on the books.”