NYC just past raising smoking age to 21, including electronic cigarettes

[ShariR]

I just saw on CNN that New York City just past legislation to raise the age to 21 to purchase cigarettes, including electronic cigarettes. Here is the link to the CNN article. Mayor Bloomberg is expected to sign it.

NYC Council OKs raising legal age to buy tobacco products to 21 - CNN.com

 

[Bill Godshall]

Although it was counterproductive for NYC Council to ban the sale of e-cigs, smokeless and cigars to anyone under 21 (as all of these products are far less hazardous than cigarettes), 18-20 year old smokers and vapers in NYC will still be able to easily buy e-cig products.


They'll be able to do so either by driving to adjacent counties in NY or to CT (or to NJ for 19-20 year olds, as NJ's minimum age for e-cigs is 19), or by purchasing e-cigs from online vendors located outside NYC (as NYC has no legal authority to ban online sales of anything, and NYC cannot enforce online purchases because it cannot inspect any (let alone all) UPS, FedEx, Postal Service and/or other packages sent to NYC residents to see if they contain e-cigs or tobacco products).

The only e-cig vendors who will need to comply with NYC's age 21 law are brick & mortar (and probably online) vendors that are located in NYC, as NYC Health Dept is likely to conduct sting operations against brick and mortar stores (and perhaps online vendors) in NYC to enforce the age 21 law.

 

[IrishUpstart]

I'm not entirely against the idea of 21 age deal. They should make that the minimum age on credit cards as well.

 

[bussdriver]

If you can't buy cigs, e-cigs or alcohol because of age, then it's obvious that their decision making ability is not quite there yet. In that case, credit cards and money decisions should have a minimum age requirement, and so should their ability to vote or serve in the armed forces. Hell, maybe even driving ???? Or how about soft drinks and non-nutritious foodstuffs ???

 

[Ruby_Red_Shoes]

Yes, and the minimum age for enlisting in the armed services. Oh and being able to vote.

 

[Fulgurant]

I'm not entirely against the idea of 21 age deal. They should make that the minimum age on credit cards as well.

If you want to change the age of legal adulthood to 21, then that's fine, but do it across the board. If I can be sued or tried as an adult at age 18, then there's zero justification for arbitrarily restricting my ability to buy alcohol or tobacco or to apply for a credit card for another 3 years.

 

[IrishUpstart]

My thought process was that a higher age minimum on cigarettes, analog or otherwise, could prevent some from starting to begin with. Be it 18 or 21, it is still is an arbitrary number as I would imagine most smokers started before it was 'legal' for them to do so.

As for credit cards.... more of a personal situation as I could have saved myself a load of debt I amassed as a broke college kid. Even on campus in mid/late 90s, they handed them out with barely an application process/review.

 

[ennagizer]

I'm on the fence with the 21 age restriction on cigarettes, but I do not like that ecigs were included nor that discounts on tobacco products are prohibited. Isn't prohibiting discounts akin to price fixing?

 

[Ranic85]

Lets just take away everyone's freedom! All newborns should be taken from their parents and relocated to a "human growth camp" where they will be educated and trained to become productive citizens! This next generation of people will be super humans, trained to eat crap and to accept every regulation that is thrown at them. They will pay taxes, take out the garbage for their elderly neighbor, and they will lay down their life for big brother.

 

[TLS01]

Lets just take away everyone's freedom! All newborns should be taken from their parents and relocated to a "human growth camp" where they will be educated and trained to become productive citizens! This next generation of people will be super humans, trained to eat crap and to accept every regulation that is thrown at them. They will pay taxes, take out the garbage for their elderly neighbor, and they will lay down their life for big brother.

Oh, and they need to wear grey jumpsuits, don't forget the grey jumpsuits, right comrade? Also, we need to make sure everyone makes the same amount across the board, give everything to the .gov, let them dole it out, what they think we should get. It's already heading in that direction now.

We need another revolution.

 

[Rick Baumgartle]

Well the age on alcohol after 21 is not arbitrary. It's based on brain development. What's disturbing about this is that they once again lumped in ecigs with cigarettes, which will allow the people who implement policy (with no actual research) to just assume that they are one and the same. It's a sneaky way to get ecigs treated like analogs, without having to do any actual research or work on their part. It's the old "If it looks like smoking, then it must be."

 

[Grateful4jerry]

Utah state legislation just passed same bill raising limit to 21 from 19. They say it will help prevent young teens from getting them from older friends, thus they wont start so young. In a perfect world maybe, but not in reality. I heard wrong, it passed a committee and is going to legislation. No doubt it will pass though

 

[Fulgurant]

Well the age on alcohol after 21 is not arbitrary. It's based on brain development. What's disturbing about this is that they once again lumped in ecigs with cigarettes, which will allow the people who implement policy (with no actual research) to just assume that they are one and the same. It's a sneaky way to get ecigs treated like analogs, without having to do any actual research or work on their part. It's the old "If it looks like smoking, then it must be."

"Drinking Alcohol Damages Teenagers’ Brains"

I don't buy the brain-development argument. In fact, history and common sense tell us that stigmatizing underage alcohol use most likely leads to more potentially brain-injuring binge drinking in adolescents, not less.