Raising Smoking Age Considered by CT Legislature

HARTFORD, CT - In a move to make it more difficult for young people to begin tobacco use, Connecticut lawmakers are considering enacting a new law to raise the smoking age to 21 from 18.

The proposed new law would apply to the purchase of any tobacco products in the state, and also would restrict the purchase of electronic cigarettes to 21-year-olds.

Similar laws are catching fire, so to speak, around the country, including in Hawaii, New York City and San Francisco, according to the Hartford Courant.

San Francisco's recent move to raise the age to buy cigarettes and other tobacco products to 21 is slated to take effect on June 1, though a challenge may be launched because California's law still allows 18-year-olds to buy smokes, reports NBC Connecticut News.

"In Connecticut, about 3 percent of middle school and 20 percent of high school student used some form of tobacco in the past 30 days and an estimated 56,000 children alive today will ultimately die prematurely from smoking-related diseases,'' Bob Brex, executive director of Northeast Communities Against Substance Abuse, told the legislature, as reported by the Courant.

Members of the legislature's Public Health Committee must decide whether to move forward with the proposal by March 23, according to WTNH-TV.

But not everyone agrees that raising the smoking age in Connecticut will prove beneficial.

"Raising the legal age to 21 to purchase tobacco products as proposed in Senate Bill 290 would not solve the real underlying issue of reducing the health consequences related to underage youth tobacco usage,'' said Thomas A. Briant, executive director and legal counsel for the National Association of Tobacco Outlets.

He added that 18-year-olds can vote, join the military and get married, so they should be allowed to make other adult decisions such as whether to smoke.

"The magnitude of these rights and responsibilities demonstrate that 18 years is the age at which a person becomes an adult and they should be afforded the right to make decisions as an adult,'' Briant said, as reported by the Courant.

Click here to read the full story on the NBC Connecticut News website.

Click here to read the full story on the Hartford Courant website.

Click here to read the full story on the WTNH-TV website.