Anyone under 21 can no longer legally buy cigarettes, cigars or any other tobacco products in the U.S.

The new law enacted last week by Congress also applies to electronic cigarettes and vaping products that heat a liquid containing nicotine.

The provision raising the legal limit from 18 to 21 nationwide was in a massive spending bill passed by Congress and signed by the president on Dec. 20. About one-third of states already had their own laws restricting tobacco sales to people 21 and older.

“This is a major step in protecting the next generation of children from becoming addicted to tobacco products,” new FDA commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn tweeted last week.

Usually, new legislation doesn't take effect right away. The change simply increased the age limit in existing law, so it was able to go into effect immediately, a spokesman for the Food and Drug Administration said Friday.

The agency has regulated tobacco products since 2009. It enforces the law partly through spot checks. Stores can be fined or barred from selling tobacco for repeat violations.

Antismoking advocates said the higher age limit should make it more difficult for young people to get tobacco, particularly high school students who had friends or classmates over 18 buy for them.

BALTIMORE — Baltimore broke its annual per capita homicide record after reaching 342 killings Friday.With just over 600,000 residents, the city hit a historically high homicide rate of about 57 per 100,000 people after recent relentless gunfire saw eight people shot — three fatally — in one day and nine others — one fatally — another day.The new rate eclipses that of 1993, when the city had a record 353 killings but was much more populous before years of population exodus.By contrast, New York City, with more than 8 million residents, had 306 homicides through Dec. 15.The total is up from 309 in 2018 and matches the 342 killings tallied in 2017 and 2015, the year when the city's homicide rate suddenly spiked.A statement from Baltimore police said officers were dispatched late Thursday night to a location on Pratt Street, where they found a man with gunshot wounds. A police spokesman said the man died from his wounds at a local hospital early Friday.This is the fifth year in a row that Baltimore has reported more than 300 killings. Before 2015, that number had generally been on the decline.