THE ISSUE: North Carolina is considering raising the legal smoking age to 21 — treating tobacco the same as alcohol. If passed, purchasing by or selling tobacco products to minors would be a class 2 misdemeanor. People disagree as to whether this is an effective public health measure or a restriction on freedom. You can read the other point of view here.
One of the largest factors in addiction is starting early; having just one cigarette during childhood doubles the likelihood of later addiction. Indeed, 85 percent of daily cigarette smokers started smoking before they were 21. Kids get their cigarettes primarily from friends. Raising the age of legal purchase to above the average age of high school graduation would dry up that source.
Moving up the legal age to at least 19 just makes sense. By then, most students have graduated high school and won’t be able to give their younger friends access. Eighteen, the current legal age of purchase in North Carolina and in most states, is arbitrary at best.
Further, research shows that raising the age to 21 would have significant public health benefits. People born between 2000 and 2019 would see a decrease in 4.2 million total years of life lost.
Finally, the tobacco industry is just plain evil. Tobacco farms rely significantly on child and teen labor, leading to numerous negative consequences including widespread nicotine poisoning, snake bites and heat exhaustion. Big tobacco also continues to target kids, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and now through E-Cigs. Despite careful regulations to reduce the impact of these ads, they seem to be working as teen use of E-Cigs continues to skyrocket.
Finally, reducing the number of people allowed to smoke simply reduces the amount of second-hand smoke out in the world, leading to better public health for all. I’m not in love with this bill — I’d much prefer a legal purchasing age of 19 — but I’d honestly rather it go higher than stay where it is.
