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Tag: smoking age

  • Mitch McConnell Pushes To Raise Minimum Smoking Age To 21

    Mitch McConnell Pushes To Raise Minimum Smoking Age To 21

    The Kentucky senator seeks to reduce smoking among America’s youth by barring all tobacco products, including vapes, until age 21.

    U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is proposing a bill that would raise the smoking age from 18 to 21. His proposal, to be introduced in May, will affect all tobacco products, including the now immensely popular vapes.

    McConnell’s home state of Kentucky is home to both a thriving tobacco industry as well as some of the highest rates of cancer in the United States. By the count of the American Cancer Society, lung cancer was responsible for about 66% of cancer deaths in Kentucky between 2012 and 2016.

    McConnell’s plan would hold retailers responsible for ensuring that all tobacco-purchasing customers are of age.

    The senator believes vaping is “the most serious threat” and hopes that raising the buying age will prevent more of these devices from being passed down to middle- and high-schoolers from their slightly older counterparts.

    Preventing teens from getting hooked early is important as almost 9 out of 10 cigarette smokers tried it before they become 18 years old, according to the CDC. Vapes seem to have exacerbated the problem, considering over 3 million high-schoolers used e-cigarettes in 2018—a 78% increase from 2017.

    “I hope my legislation will earn strong, bipartisan support in the Senate,” said McConnell. “I’m confident many of my colleagues will agree that protecting our young people from starting tobacco use at an early age can have remarkable, long-term health benefits for Kentucky and the country.”

    The bill will exclude those who serve in uniform.

    Altria, the producers of Marlboro, say they “strongly supports raising the legal age of purchase for all tobacco products.”

    McConnell’s idea isn’t novel. Twelve states have already moved to raise the smoking age to 21. According to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Maryland and New York are also set to enact similar laws.

    But according to one Hawaiian lawmaker, raising the age to 21 just isn’t good enough. State Representative Richard Creagan wants to eventually make it illegal for anyone under the age of 100 to get tobacco products.

    “We don’t allow people free access to opioids, for instance, or any prescription drugs. This is more lethal, more dangerous than any prescription drug, and it is more addicting, said Creagan, “We, as legislators, have a duty to do things to save people’s lives. If we don’t ban cigarettes, we are killing people.”

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Hawaiian Lawmaker Wants To Raise Smoking Age To 100

    Hawaiian Lawmaker Wants To Raise Smoking Age To 100

    In 2016, Hawaii raised the legal smoking age to 21.

    A state representative in Hawaii wants to take a hardline approach to cigarettes, by banning their sale and raising the legal age to 100. 

    “The state is obliged to protect the public’s health,” state Representative Richard Creagan told the Hawaii Tribune-Herald. “We don’t allow people free access to opioids, for instance, or any prescription drugs. This is more lethal, more dangerous than any prescription drug, and it is more addicting. In my view, you are taking people who are enslaved from a horrific addiction, and freeing people from horrific enslavement. We, as legislators, have a duty to do things to save people’s lives. If we don’t ban cigarettes, we are killing people.”

    Creagan, a physician, started smoking when he was a teenager and used cigarettes to stay awake through medical school. However, he said he now realizes just how dangerous cigarettes are. 

    “Basically, we essentially have a group who are heavily addicted—in my view, enslaved by a ridiculously bad industry—which has enslaved them by designing a cigarette that is highly addictive, knowing that it is highly lethal,” he said. 

    In Hawaii the legal smoking age is 21, already higher than in much of the country. However, Creagan said this is not effective at stopping young smokers. 

    “It’s slowing it down, but it’s not stopping the problem,” he said. 

    Creagan’s proposal—which has two other sponsors—would gradually raise the legal age to purchase cigarettes. Next year it would rise to 30, to 40 in 2021, 50 in 2022 and 60 in 2023. By 2024, the legal smoking age in Hawaii would be 100. 

    The plan does not include cigars, chewing tobacco or vapes, which Creagan sees as less harmful alternatives to cigarettes. 

    However, Creagan’s efforts may seem slightly misguided in light of current research about tobacco and nicotine use among youth. Although tobacco use remains relatively low among teens, the Monitoring The Future survey released in 2018 found that the use of vapes is increasing dramatically. 

    “Vaping is reversing hard-fought declines in the number of adolescents who use nicotine,” said Richard Miech, the lead author and investigator of the study. “These results suggest that vaping is leading youth into nicotine use and nicotine addiction, not away from it. If we want to prevent youth from using drugs, including nicotine, vaping will warrant special attention in terms of policy, education campaigns, and prevention programs in the coming years.”

    View the original article at thefix.com