VoluntaryAmerican
06-12-2013, 09:43 PM
The folks who cry “Nanny state!” are right: In America, 18 is old enough to go to war and die for your country. But military heroics aside, what’s the rush? How many addicted smokers wish they go back and slap that first cigarette from their naïve teenage fingers?
New Jersey already is one of four states where the legal smoking age is 19. Next week, Sen. Richard Codey (D-Essex) plans to introduce a bill that could make New Jersey the first state to raise it to 21. Codey’s bill mirrors similar proposals in New York City and New York state.
What’s to debate? Most smokers start in their teens, when defiance is cool and long-term consequences don’t matter. And the younger a smoker begins, the more susceptible he is to tobacco-related diseases — including lung cancer — later on. Nationally, smoking-related health care costs $96 billion a year.
Raising the tobacco-buying age to 21 adds two years’ worth of maturity to the decision to light up for the first time.
In New York City, officials say raising the tobacco-buying age from 18 to 21 would cut smoking in that group by more than half. Even if that’s too optimistic, any reduction would be meaningful. And it would have a domino effect, they say, cutting smoking among 14- to 17-year-olds.
The New York proposals would ban the sale of tobacco to anyone under 21, putting responsibility on the sellers, not the buyers. Codey is considering whether New Jersey should outlaw the underage purchase of tobacco, too — just like alcohol.
For Codey, this is something of a mission. He sponsored the bill to ban smoking in college dorms in 2005. And, as governor in 2006, he signed laws that banned indoor smoking and raised the minimum age to 19. Bars and restaurants put up a fierce fight to stop the indoor smoking law. Today, Codey says, most admit smoke-free air is better for business.
Experts say experimental teen smoking is more likely to grow into chronic addiction once smokers are able to buy their own. Delaying tobacco use offers young people time and maturity before picking up the world’s deadliest habit.
The “18-to-die-for-your-country” argument is a classic canard. Nearly 90 percent of adult smokers say they started younger than 18. Die-hard smokers cry “freedom” when new restrictions are proposed. But ask the middle-aged smoker who just paid $9 to feed his pack-a-day nicotine addiction: How free do you feel?
http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2013/05/raise_njs_smoking_age_to_21_ed.html
New Jersey already is one of four states where the legal smoking age is 19. Next week, Sen. Richard Codey (D-Essex) plans to introduce a bill that could make New Jersey the first state to raise it to 21. Codey’s bill mirrors similar proposals in New York City and New York state.
What’s to debate? Most smokers start in their teens, when defiance is cool and long-term consequences don’t matter. And the younger a smoker begins, the more susceptible he is to tobacco-related diseases — including lung cancer — later on. Nationally, smoking-related health care costs $96 billion a year.
Raising the tobacco-buying age to 21 adds two years’ worth of maturity to the decision to light up for the first time.
In New York City, officials say raising the tobacco-buying age from 18 to 21 would cut smoking in that group by more than half. Even if that’s too optimistic, any reduction would be meaningful. And it would have a domino effect, they say, cutting smoking among 14- to 17-year-olds.
The New York proposals would ban the sale of tobacco to anyone under 21, putting responsibility on the sellers, not the buyers. Codey is considering whether New Jersey should outlaw the underage purchase of tobacco, too — just like alcohol.
For Codey, this is something of a mission. He sponsored the bill to ban smoking in college dorms in 2005. And, as governor in 2006, he signed laws that banned indoor smoking and raised the minimum age to 19. Bars and restaurants put up a fierce fight to stop the indoor smoking law. Today, Codey says, most admit smoke-free air is better for business.
Experts say experimental teen smoking is more likely to grow into chronic addiction once smokers are able to buy their own. Delaying tobacco use offers young people time and maturity before picking up the world’s deadliest habit.
The “18-to-die-for-your-country” argument is a classic canard. Nearly 90 percent of adult smokers say they started younger than 18. Die-hard smokers cry “freedom” when new restrictions are proposed. But ask the middle-aged smoker who just paid $9 to feed his pack-a-day nicotine addiction: How free do you feel?
http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2013/05/raise_njs_smoking_age_to_21_ed.html