NYC Council proposal would raise legal minimum tobacco sales age from 18 to 21

[Bill Godshall]

Proposal would raise age for cigarette purchases in New York City | Palladium-Item | pal-item.com

Looks like NYC Council has balked on Bloomberg's unconstitutional proposal to hide all tobacco products from adult tobacco consumers in retail stores, and instead has proposed raising the legal minimum age for tobacco sales to 21 (which will almost certainly reduce youth tobacco use).


PA used to have a law banning cigarette sales to minors, but it was repealed in 2002 when the tobacco industry joined forces with tobacco retailers, former Govs. Ridge and Schweiker, former AG Fisher, and ACS/AHA/ALA to enact a new law that reduced the age to 18.

So far, four states ban the sale of tobacco to anyone under the age of 19 (UT, AK, AL, NJ).

 

[Elnroth]

Seeing as I picked up smoking around the age of sixteen and had no trouble obtaining cigarettes, and this is also the case with many smokers, this law is bound to be effective. If your goal is to make a cigarette black market in nyc, and drive money outside the city that is.

 

[dragonlover]

I've always had issue with the fact that we can send our kids to war at 18 but they can't drink, I do believe I would have the same problem with this. If a person is old enough to fight for this country they are old enough to decide if they wish to smoke or not, Just my opinion

 

[retired1]

They should raise the age of majority to 21 if they're going to insist on treating 18 year olds like children.

 

[jenmurray116]

I just saw this on the news. I would give ANYTHING to keep my son off cigarettes.....but.....you can't tell an 18 year old that you are now an adult - you can move out and support yourself, you can vote for who runs our town/county/state/country, you can fight and possibly die for our country....but you can't smoke. Either you are an adult at 18 or you're not. Again, the Mom in me wants to say it's a good thing, but I do take issue with it. The more you say "you can't" the more attractive you are making it to a kid, IMO.

 

[Renolizzie]

I really don't get the age of 21 for drinking and certainly not for smoking. How long are people going to be children? Maybe we should raise these limits to 30 years of age?

You can fight and die for this country, you can drive, you can sign legal documents at 18 but you can't drink or smoke? I just don't get it.

 

[BostonVape]

wow. if this happens, NYC will no longer be considered the 'greatest city in the world' that's for sure!

 

[SloHand]

I'm all for raising the legal smoking age. As I keep telling my two teenage daughters, the trick to being a non-smoker is simply not to ever start.

If the legal age helps prevent one new smoker (nicotine addict) then it will have done it's job.

Lets face the truth. We are nicotine addicts. If we weren't we wouldn't be here vaping and we would have given up the smoking the minute we knew it had the potential to kill us.

We (ex-smokers and vapers) didn't quite, we justified it with the craziest excusses.

Don't think that I'm a hypocrite, I'm not. I am an addict, I love nicotine, I will continue to consume nicotine until my last breath but this doesn't mean that we shouldn't be supporting rules and regulations that ensure that we are not adding to those numbers of addicts.

My 2 cents

 

[Commie]

Interesting. And since kids shouldn't have sex, I say we should also prohibit sales of contraceptives to ages 21 and up. That'll stop them!

Edit: also, should require a valid marriage certificate.

 

[DC2]

I think it has come to the point where we are getting exactly what we deserve.

 

[RosaJ]

Interesting. And since kids shouldn't have sex, I say we should also prohibit sales of contraceptives to ages 21 and up. That'll stop them!

Edit: also, should require a valid marriage certificate.

I love your avatar. It reminds me of my grandfather when I was little. He and my dad used to smoke H.Upman cigars and they would give me the wood boxes to put my toys in LOL.

 

[Commie]

I love your avatar. It reminds me of my grandfather when I was little. He and my dad used to smoke H.Upman cigars and they would give me the wood boxes to put my toys in LOL.

Back when USSR was friends with Cuba, we had cuban cigarettes, and *very* cheap. That's what I used to smoke back when I was a kid. The throat hit was atrocious!

 

[NorthOfAtlanta]

I think it has come to the point where we are getting exactly what we deserve.

I think we are getting what 50% + 1 voted for.

 

[SloHand]

Interesting. And since kids shouldn't have sex, I say we should also prohibit sales of contraceptives to ages 21 and up. That'll stop them!

Edit: also, should require a valid marriage certificate.

Eh? ( let me translate ) Huh?

 

[retired1]

Eh? ( let me translate ) Huh?

Pssst! He forgot the /sarcon and /sarcoff tags.

 

[Commie]

Eh? ( let me translate ) Huh?

Sorry. I was making a ridiculous analogy, to demonstrate the idiocy and general badness of the proposed legislature

 

[Stoneface]

NYC is quickly becoming the world leader of nanny state policies. It's infuriating how much local government wants to intrude into daily private life. I don't want anyone of any age to become another addict (yes, I think we are addicts), but this is the wrong way to approach the problem, IMO. Part of the impetus of this proposal is due to the upcoming Mayoral campaigns.

 

[Bill Godshall]

Perhaps those who oppose increasing the legal age for cigarette sales can explain why they support allowing cigarette sales to high school students (as most 12th graders are 18).

Raising the age to 21 will sharply reduce the cigarette supply for high school students, as a majority of cigarettes smoked by high school students are legally purchased by 18 or 19 year old students, who then illegally resell them to other high school students who are under 18.

 

[retired1]

Perhaps those who oppose increasing the legal age for cigarette sales can explain why they support allowing cigarette sales to high school students (as most 12th graders are 18).

Perhaps because legally, you're an adult at 18?

Don't get me wrong, sales of alcohol and cigarettes to those who are under aged is wrong. But if the law sees you as an adult at 18, then treat them as an adult. Otherwise, raise the age of majority to 21 and be done with it.

 

[Commie]

Perhaps those who oppose increasing the legal age for cigarette sales can explain why they support allowing cigarette sales to high school students (as most 12th graders are 18).

Raising the age to 21 will sharply reduce the cigarette supply for high school students, as a majority of cigarettes smoked by high school students are legally purchased by 18 or 19 year old students, who then illegally resell them to other high school students who are under 18.

With all due respect, Bill.
If the government considers a person to be responsible enough serve in the military and vote, the person should be considered responsible enough to make other choices for themselves.