New York City Council raises smoking age to 21

[Politically_Incorrect12]

New York City Council Raises Legal Age for Tobacco to 21

New York’s City Council voted to raise the legal age to buy tobacco products and electronic cigarettes to 21 from 18, to keep young people from smoking.

The change would make New York the first major U.S. city to raise the minimum age to 21 to buy cigarettes and related items, according to a council statement. It also passed measures yesterday to set a $10.50 minimum price for a pack of 20 cigarettes or little cigars, ban discounting of tobacco products and increase fines for illegal and untaxed sales.

“This legislation will reduce smoking rates among New Yorkers -- especially young New Yorkers -- sparing them years of nicotine addiction and health problems,” City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a Democrat, said in the statement.

The council’s move complements efforts by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to curb smoking. The mayor, a political independent and the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP, has worked with the council to raise tobacco taxes and make restaurants and bars smoke-free.

“By increasing the smoking age to 21 we will help prevent another generation from the ill health and shorter life expectancy that comes with smoking,” Bloomberg said in a statement following the vote. “It’s critical that we stop young people from smoking before they ever start.”

Young Smokers

New York’s youth smoking rate has remained at 8.5 percent since 2007, and 20,000 public-high school students use cigarettes, Quinn said in April when she proposed the measure. By one estimate, raising the purchase age to 21 will reduce smoking among those 18 to 20 years old by as much as 55 percent, said Quinn, who ran unsuccessfully for her party’s nomination to succeed Bloomberg as mayor next year.

More than 80 percent of the city’s adult smokers start before age 21, according to Health Commissioner Thomas Farley. New York, with about 8.3 million residents, is the largest metropolis in the U.S.

Setting $10.50 minimum prices for packs of cigarettes and little cigars won’t stop young people from smoking and will instead drive consumers to illegal sellers, a retailer group said. A group of convenience-store operators said the new rules would lead to fewer jobs.

Read more at:  www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-30/new-york-city-council-raises-legal-age-for-tobacco-to-21.html

[wvugurl26]

Is the nanny state in NYC ever going to end? Do they sit around and dream up stupid laws that the Supreme Court will surely strike down? I'm guessing NY state doesn't have a law on the books that prohibits cities from enacting laws more restrictive than state law. SC does and it was used to strike down Myrtle Beach's motorcycle helmet law.

First Big Gulps and now cigarettes.

[workpublic]

first was Trans Fat

the are also raising the age for ECigs.
Many kids are using ECigs instead of real cigs.
the govt is trying like hell to find something wrong with ECigs.

also folks aren't happy with the "green spaces" that make no sense, create hazzards, the planting of trees when the city can't maintain the existing ones(that keep falling on things), the bike rentals locations/foot print, etc.

NYCers can't wait for bloomberg to go. unfortunately he will be replaced by avowed "progresive" bill delblasio who will "force NYC's wealthy citizens to pay for Pre -K and after school stuff" "end racial profiling"
there is no racial profiling being done by NYPD, it's illegal. "stop and frisk" is not done based on race.

[marvholly]

I much suspect the 21 age thing will get tossed by the courts. If an 18 y/o can legally sign a contract (cell phone, apt rental.....) they ARE adults by law.

[Shooby]

  Just more govt stupidity.  Pick an AGE when someone is a legal ADULT, period.  Sheesh.  If it is 18, then it is 18 and let them do what adults please to legally do.

[Deleted]

Nov 1, 2013 4:48:45 GMT -5 marvholly said:

I much suspect the 21 age thing will get tossed by the courts. If an 18 y/o can legally sign a contract (cell phone, apt rental.....) they ARE adults by law.

so then why can't they drink and buy alcohol?

[Shooby]

Because we live in Nanny states that now want to prolong adolescence into perpetuity.

[Spellbound454]

Seems Mayor Bloomberg has elected himself as moral guardian for the free thinking people of New York.

Who said he was God?

[zibazinski]

Can we raise the age to 80? I think if you reach that you have the right to do anything to your body you want! I have never had asthma, I thought, until I went to class Tuesday night and someone had smoked and I coughed, eyes watered, and I almost threw up. I'm super sensitive now it seems due to no one smoking ever around me anymore. DF had a super head ache and that made him pissy. I felt sick all night. I actually haven't known anyone that smoked since the school custodian and we were always outside when ever he was encountered by anyone. It's hell getting old. I made the guy that did it feel like crap for having done it. I don't understand as he has been in my class and I think I even sat next to him one time but it was so strong and I was so sick.

[zibazinski]

Small classroom and closed,door.8 people in classroom. Usually we sit at a table but I had to sit as far away as I could, not that it helped.

[Virgil Showlion]

Oct 31, 2013 9:03:42 GMT -5 workpublic said:

first was Trans Fat

the are also raising the age for ECigs.
Many kids are using ECigs instead of real cigs.
the govt is trying like hell to find something wrong with ECigs.

The e-Cigs were invented as a relatively harmless way to quit smoking. Why have the nannies declared war on those?

[workpublic]

I much suspect the 21 age thing will get tossed by the courts. If an 18 y/o can legally sign a contract (cell phone, apt rental.....) they ARE adults by law.

then they would also be able to drink alcohol.

[workpublic]

The e-Cigs were invented as a relatively harmless way to quit smoking. Why have the nannies declared war on those?

as per usual? smugness(i'm smarter than you, therefore i know better. but good thing I'm righteous so I will take care of you)?

it's not about "safety" it's about control.

they also want them banned from airplanes.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

With New York City being as big as it is I would think Mayor Bloomberg would be busy oh I don't know. . .running the city?

Seems like he has too much time on his hands if he can sit around and design stupid laws like this, the soda ban and locking up formula in hospitals.

[Deleted]

I dislike "gotta do something"  politics.

[Deleted]

What voters does this placate?

[Tennesseer]

Nov 1, 2013 11:53:42 GMT -5 @joey said:

What voters does this placate?

A poll is a poll is a poll.

Having said that, in this poll, 63 percent of those polled would like to see the age to purchase tobacco raised to 21.

Americans by nearly a 2-1 margin favor raising the minimum legal age to buy cigarettes to 21 in their state, a proposal currently before the California Legislature.

The legal age to buy tobacco products now is 18 in almost all states (it is 19 in Alaska, Alabama and Utah). In this ABCNEWS.com poll, 63 percent support raising it to 21 in their state, while 34 percent oppose the idea.

California Assemblyman Paul Koretz introduced his legislation last week, saying it would reduce teen smoking.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about 80 percent of adult smokers started before age 18, and nearly 5,000 children under 18 try their first cigarette every day. It calls tobacco the country's top preventable cause of death. It is responsible for more than 440,000 deaths and more than $75 billion in direct medical costs each year.

The proposal is broadly popular, with majority support across demographic groups, peaking at 71 percent of nonwhites and 68 percent among adults with children. Women are somewhat more likely to support it than men are.

There's less of a difference by age. Sixty percent of those ages 18 to 34 support the change; it's 65 percent among those 35 and older. (There are too few 18- to 20-year-olds in this poll to look at their views separately.)

Methodology

This ABCNEWS.com survey was conducted by telephone June 5-9 among a random national sample of 1,025 adults. The results have a three-point error margin. Sampling, data collection and tabulation were done by TNS Intersearch of Horsham, Pa.

Poll: Stub Out Cigarette Sales to Teens

[Tennesseer]

I have been smoking (still do) for 50 years. Started at age 12. I wish I had never started.

[Spellbound454]

Having said that, in this poll, 63 percent of those polled would like to see the age to purchase tobacco raised to 21.

63% of everyone..... or 63% of those who felt strongly enough to answer the question.

Polls are not referendums........... and statistics can be fiddled to say whatever you want them to say.

What about all those who were indifferent?

[workpublic]

What voters does this placate?

the ones who make decisions based on feelings(nice vs mean) instead of facts?

some finally admitted that it just doesn't 'feel right' to see someone vaping in a public place where smoking isn't allowed

where all the people "polled" voters?

i've walked into my tiny Post Office and the local deli with unlit cigs in my mouth to be immediately yelled at that "there's no smoking in here!"

[workpublic]

Started at age 12. I wish I had never started.

i quit in May(it took a night in the hospital to get over the hump). last night I smoked two cigs..... in a dream. it was the third "smoking dream" I've had since May.

quitting cigs is harder than quitting coke.

[Sum Dum Gai]

It is responsible for more than 440,000 deaths and more than $75 billion in direct medical costs each year.

Almost definitely false.  It's been a year or two since I've posted about the jihad on smoking, but there are plenty of articles written about the way smoking related health statistics are gathered.  For example, every single person who gets cancer is asked if they smoke or have ever smoked.  If so, the cancer is put into the statistics as smoking related.  The problem with that is that 6% of people who smoke will get lung cancer, and 2% of non smokers will also get lung cancer.  This means that at least some of the smokers who get lung cancer would have gotten it anyway.  Smoking does increase your cancer risk, for lung cancer it triples it, but there's no medical way to know for sure whether your cancer is smoking related or if you would have gotten it anyway.  So, the simple solution is to list all medical problems that smokers get as smoking related.  They do the same thing on death certificates.  If they die of pretty much any disease, and their medical records show that they smoked, the death is listed as smoking related.

I'm not saying cigarettes are healthy, or not unhealthy, but the statistics showing how dangerous smoking is are overinflated.

[Tennesseer]

Nov 1, 2013 15:21:51 GMT -5 workpublic said:

Started at age 12. I wish I had never started.

i quit in May(it took a night in the hospital to get over the hump). last night I smoked two cigs..... in a dream. it was the third "smoking dream" I've had since May.

quitting cigs is harder than quitting coke.

I wish I could be put into an induced coma for two weeks to get over the physical cravings for a cigarette.

[Virgil Showlion]

Nov 1, 2013 12:44:32 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Having said that, in this poll, 63 percent of those polled would like to see the age to purchase tobacco raised to 21.

What if the other 37% want it lowered to age 12? Take a weighted average?

[Tennesseer]

Nov 1, 2013 17:18:15 GMT -5 Virgil Showlion said:

Nov 1, 2013 12:44:32 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Having said that, in this poLl 63 percent of those polled would like to see the age to purchase tobacco raised to 21.

What if the other 37% want it lowered to age 12? Take a weighted average?

I thought I was clear about this pole when I said "A poll ìs a poll ìs a poll".  One can take or leave the poll findings.  Didn't pbp's election thread and all his polls touting Romney's commanding lead in most states teach us that?

[Deleted]

 Will the city of NY lose revenue from cigarette sales? Possibly.
 Will the 18-20 year-old smokers continue to get their cigarettes, and get them from illicit sources? Probably.
 Has Bloomberg provided an impetus for "black market" trade? Certainly.

[Deleted]

When I started smoking the legal age was 18 to buy cigarettes.  I started smoking at 16 and never had a problem getting smokes.  Changing the legal age to 21 isn't going to stop people younger than 21 from smoking if they really want to smoke. 

I no longer smoke, but I think it is stupid to raise the age.  I am a believer that if they are allowed to join the military and go to war at 18, then they should be able to have a damn cigarette and a beer too. 

[zibazinski]

[mmhmm]

Nov 2, 2013 2:24:16 GMT -5 imanangel said:

When I started smoking the legal age was 18 to buy cigarettes.  I started smoking at 16 and never had a problem getting smokes.  Changing the legal age to 21 isn't going to stop people younger than 21 from smoking if they really want to smoke. 

I no longer smoke, but I think it is stupid to raise the age.  I am a believer that if they are allowed to join the military and go to war at 18, then they should be able to have a damn cigarette and a beer too. 

I agree, angel.  If the law figures you're old enough to die in war, I guess it makes sense you should be old enough to drink, or smoke yourself to death, if that's your choice.

[billisonboard]

Nov 2, 2013 5:36:40 GMT -5 mmhmm said:

... I agree, angel.  If the law figures you're old enough to die in war, I guess it makes sense you should be old enough to drink, or smoke yourself to death, if that's your choice.

Many years ago, my military ID got me into the base club and allowed me to buy cigarettes at the base exchange. And I was only seventeen at the time.

If you voluntarily join the military, I agree that you should be able to drink and/or smoke. But does the fact that person "X" does so, mean that person "Y" should be treated in the same manner? The problem with the age of 18 is that a good percentage of such persons are still high school students.

How about ID showing that you are 21 or military ID being the requirement?