Will the Smoking Age Ever Change Again

Raising the Smoking Age to 21 Is Pointless

Lawmakers across the country are jumping on the bandwagon to enhance the minimum age for smokers, but the odds are that these won't do much to keep kids from lighting up.

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Lawmakers across the country are jumping on the bandwagon to raise the minimum age for smokers, but the odds are that these won't do much to keep kids from lighting up.

Concluding week, Utah legislatorsagreed to put a bill on ballots next year that would make 21 the minimum age for buying tobacco products, a enhance from its current limit of 19 years, which is already the highest age in the U.S . That plan comes fresh off the passage of New York City's recent rule to raise its minimum age to 21, and similar age-enhance plans are soon hitting legislators in Hawaii, New Jersey, Colorado, and Texas.

The underlying reason behind this growing tendency is admirable — smoking is bad, duh — merely raising the smoking historic period to 21 would actually make less of an bear on than officials think. That's considering smoking rates are already coming down, and smokers beginning fashion earlier age 21 anyhow.

Smoking is already trending downwards

Prior to this trend of raising the age to 21, the smoking rate was already decreasing these past few years, equally the CDC graph (pdf) to the right shows. Terminal year, 18 percent of Americans smoked, downward from well-nigh 21 percent in 2009, and almost 25 percent in 1997. This pass up isn't due to age raises, but to other smoking laws, including cigarette taxes and smoke-free workplace rules. Similarly, heavy smokers are smoking less, as the CDC reports that those smoking 30 or more than cigarettes a twenty-four hour period declined significantly from 2005 to 2010. In New York City (where nearly all indoor smoking is banned), the smoking charge per unit sits at 15 percent, downward from its 21 percent in 2005.  Because of a decreased public visibility and higher cigarette prices, smoking is on the mode out. But age limits, which are only now being put in place, accept fiddling to do with it.

Smokers start at way younger age

Raising the age from 18 to 21 won't make as big of a departure as lawmakers hope, given that near smokers — ix out of x co-ordinate to the Surgeon General — have already begun lighting upwardly past 18. In Utah, the boilerplate age at which a person tries their starting time cigarette is a pre-pubescent 12.half dozen years, according to Cameron Mitchell, the executive director of the Utah Clan of Local Health Departments. Slate'southward statement in favor of raising the smoking age cites an old internal memo from tobacco visitor R.J. Reynolds: "I f a man has never smoked by historic period 18, the odds are iii-to-ane he never volition." But every bit the stats above show, almost smokers have lit up well earlier age 18, so those extra three years are unlikely to tip the residue.

More laws don't always equal more enforcement

Those numbers to a higher place, plus the prevalence of college-historic period drinkers who take no problem getting their easily on alcohol, suggests that those who want to smoke will have no problem getting their easily on tobacco. This age enhance might just make fake IDs and blackness market cigarettes even  more desirable.

Mixed success of raising smoking ages

Utah's and New York City's role model for this change is Needham, Massachusetts, which raised its smoking age to 21 in 2005 and has seen a big driblet in smoking compared to the rest of Massachusetts. Needham's manager of public health told WNYC that teens smoking declined from 13.5 percent in 2006 to five.five percent in 2012. The Boston suburb'south success is impressive, but the same health director is willing to emphasize the city's other anti-smoking laws bated from just the age raise. "I wouldn't say it'southward all because of this," she told WNYC. "But I think the community has embraced this." Withal, Needham'due south success story hasn't been seen in other age-raising initiatives. Alabama and Alaska raised their minimums to xix recently, but neither has seen much of a difference still in their to a higher place-average smoking rates.

Utah has few smokers to be angry

Utah is the state least in demand of a change in its smoking laws. It already has the everyman rate of smoking in the country; just nine.ane% in 2010 according to the Centers for Affliction Control. A Gallup poll in 2011, as well, put Utah'due south lowest smoking charge per unit at xi percent, well beneath the U.S. average of 21 percent. Because of those pocket-size numbers, there likely won't exist much opposition to the ballot vote next year. But that can't exist said of other states with higher smoking rates, particularly those with a libertarian bent. Consider Kentucky and its 29 percentage smoking rate (Gallup) or West Virginia and its 27 percent rate (CDC). Adjustment an anti-Big Government entrada with angry young smokers could end this trend in its tracks.

On tiptop of these reasons, there's likewise the problem of reconciling a country that tin can send its 18-year-olds off to war... where they can't fume or potable. That's a tough sell, no matter that officials have their minds in the correct place.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.

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Source: https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/11/raising-smoking-age-21-pointless/355497/

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