U.S. Cities Eye Tobacco Purchasing Age

More cities consider raising legal purchasing age for tobacco products to 21.

October 30, 2014

NEW YORK – As more cities seek to boost the legal purchasing age of tobacco products from 18 to 21, states are starting to take notice, as well as the medical community.

The Wall Street Journal reports that on Monday this week, the Evanston, Illinois, City Council banned tobacco sales to those under the age of 21. In November, the Columbia, Missouri, health board is expected to recommend a similar measure to City Council.

The New Jersey Senate approved a bill in June to raise the tobacco-purchasing age to 21, while the Colorado Legislature could take up a similar proposal, even though it was defeated in March.

The Federal Drug Administration is waiting on a report from the Institute of Medicine, according to the news source, that will weight “the potential benefits of increasing the age to 21 or 25.”

Jonathan Winickoff, associate professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, says that raising the tobacco-purchasing age would cost the tobacco industry about $2 billion in near-term cigarette sales, according to an estimate published in the American Journal of Public Health. 

All of this comes as youth tobacco use and access — thanks to industry-wide programs such as We Card — continues to decline. So where did it all begin?

The Wall Street Journal cites a 2005 law in the town of Needham, Massachusetts, that was enacted by the three-person health board to raise the tobacco purchasing age to 21. In 2012, pediatrician and Needham resident, Lester Hartman, urged the city of Westwood to pass a similar measure. Since he lacked “convincing evidence” to move the measure, he began to build his case with the help of Winickoff. 

“Dr. Winickoff analyzed results in Needham and discovered smoking rates among Needham teens had fallen by nearly 50% between 2006 and 2010, triple the rate of decline in neighboring towns,” write the Wall Street Journal.

Meanwhile, the tobacco industry is paying attention to local and state developments.

Altria, according to the news source, says states and localities should allow the FDA and Congress to weigh in on the issue before “changing the status quo.” Lorillard opposes changing the legal purchasing age, noting that Congress established the current law and 18 is also the legal age to vote and join the military.

R.J. Reynolds, meanwhile, said it plans to leave the matter up to states and cities. David Howard, spokesman, said that Reynolds only markets its products to adults and funds a youth-tobacco prevention program. Although youth tobacco use is at historic lows, “which is fantastic,” said Howard, “our goal is to be at zero.”

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