"Tobacco 21 Bill" Passes Oregon Senate, Moves to House

SALEM, OR – Oregon’s Senate just took one step closer toward seeing the state’s legal smoking age raised to 21 years old.

Thursday, March 23, the Senate passed bipartisan legislation to raise the legal age to 21 for tobacco and e-cigarette use.

Sen. Elizabeth Steiner Hayward (D-NW Portland and Beaverton), a staunch anti-smoking advocate, was the chief sponsor of Senate Bill 754 (or the “Tobacco 21 bill”), which passed the Senate by a 19-8 vote.

“I ran for office to make Oregon the healthiest state in the nation, and I am proud to stand with my colleagues in passing SB 754 out of the Senate today, with bipartisan support,” Steiner Hayward said in a statement. “This bill will decrease youth smoking rates, decrease tobacco-related diseases and health care costs, and it will improve public health. This is good policy for Oregonians.”

Steiner Hayward worked with Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Knight Cancer Institute Director Dr. Brian Druker and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network in creating the bill, which will now move to the state House of Representatives.

If approved by the House, and then signed by Gov. Kate Brown, Oregon would become the third U.S. state to raise the legal smoking age –– joining Hawaii and California.

Across the nation, nearly 200 cities have adopted ordinances that raised the smoking age, including Oregon’s Lane County, which voted March 14 –– making it the first county in Oregon to enact such an ordinance.

“This is a common-sense way to keep these highly addictive products out of the hands of teenagers,” said Sen. James Manning (D-Eugene), who was also a chief sponsor of the bill. “If we can prevent anyone from taking up this kind of habit, we can save lives and create a healthier state.”

According to state officials, tobacco use kills more than 5,500 Oregonians every year, with roughly 1,800 Oregon teens becoming new daily smokers annually.

Additionally, officials said, the younger smokers are when they start, the more likely they are to become addicted.

“Raising the tobacco sales age is a broadly supported issue. In fact, 64 percent of Oregonians say they favor raising the age for tobacco sales to 21 as part of the solution to addressing Oregon’s number one cause of preventable death,” said Christopher Friend, Cancer Action Network Oregon government relations director. “The Legislature has a tool at their fingertips that promises to save lives and money, and has wide support across party lines.”

Because teens often use 18-year-old peers to buy tobacco products, officials believe raising the minimum age to 21 will help prevent teenagers from obtaining cigarettes and vaping equipment as easily.

“If you can delay the start of a tobacco habit by even a few years, fewer young people will become addicted to tobacco, which means fewer cancer patients in the future,” Druker said. “The bottom line is that Tobacco 21 will save the lives of Oregonians.”

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