On the heels of the “vaping crisis” of 2019 and big tobacco’s obvious “profit before people” business model we finally have a possible solution to prevent young Americans from smoking cigarettes.
Cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 480,000 deaths per year in the United States, including more than 41,000 deaths resulting from secondhand smoke exposure. This is about one in five deaths annually, or 1,300 deaths every day. On average, smokers die 10 years earlier than nonsmokers.
Nov 28, 2018 https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fast_facts/index.htm
It’s no secret that our most vulnerable group of potential smokers are teenagers. This group is very close to the 18 year old requirement to use tobacco products. ID checking has made a great deal of progress in the US, but there’s not much difference in how a 16 year old or 18 year old presents visually. That’s just a small part of the disconnect causing such an epidemic of teen smokers.
The bigger part is harder to see. Teen smokers are too close in age, activities, areas, likes/dislikes and more with their legal 18 year old counterparts who can legally buy tobacco products.
Thousands of young people start smoking cigarettes every day.
Each day, about 2000 people younger than 18 years smoke their first cigarette.
Each day, over 300 people younger than 18 years become daily cigarette smokers.
https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/2017-nsduh-detailed-tables
Unlike Alcohol, teen purchases of tobacco products for friends is not viewed as badly and enforced less often. 18 year olds are often still in high school, still moving in the same circles with hundreds of minors. These legal adults can be pressured in to buying, sharing and using tobacco products pretty easily.
But…. There is hope.
Lawmakers have agreed to ban the sale of tobacco products to anyone under the age of 21 and repeal three health care taxes designed to help pay for the Affordable Care Act as part of the sweeping year-end spending agreement that will be released on Monday
Phil Mattingly and Caroline Kelly, CNN 4:08 PM ET, Mon December 16, 2019
This is probably the single most important measure to combat tobacco use…. EVER. The measure would raise the age requirement for ALL tobacco products (including vapes) to 21, thus putting a larger divide between age legal smokers and high school teens. 21 year olds are not as likely to buy tobacco products for minors, they aren’t even traveling in the same circles as their teen counterparts. Teen smokers will have a harder time getting tobacco products and the current ID system will work better.
Think of it as a “fire break”. The proposed new 3 year divide between high school children and semi adult 21 year olds who have “bills to pay” is a huge gap for that spark to get across. In fact, I would think in most cases a 21 year old and an 18 year old couldn’t be more divided socially.
Historically we know that the tobacco companies are going to keep breaking/bending every measure aimed at stopping the use of tobacco products because “it’s bad for business”. This was recently demonstrated by RJ Reynolds who was guilty of “composition of cigarettes in order to sustain nicotine addiction” in 1999. Now they are guilty of the very same behavior in it’s JUUL division by adding benzoic acid to reduce irritation, meaning users could comfortably inhale more of the vapor… Thus, get hooked faster, harder and longer.
Vaping, while it’s technically healthier than smoking cigarettes is now hot new tech. Teens everywhere are addicted to tech; video games, phones, headphones, speakers and yes they vape device. I am hopeful that the 21 year age requirement will help here as well, but I think more will have to be done.
As a former “vaper” I fully support restrictive changes to ALL tobacco products across the board, including e-cigarettes. All tobacco products, or more accurately nicotine products, should share the exact same restrictions.