According to the Washington State Health Department, smoking kills more than 8,000 people in Washington State every year. To prevent the habit from spreading, lawmakers in Olympia are considering abillthat would raise the legal age for buying tobacco from 18 to 21.
Back in the 1980s, tobacco companies were worried that cities and states might raise the age for access to cigarettes and other tobacco products to 21. Companies like Phillip Morris and R. J. Reynolds wrote reports detailing how doing this would mean a drop in smokers and a loss of profit.
At a hearing in Olympia, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson shared some of the tobacco industry’s findings from all those years ago.
“In an R.J. Reynolds study from 1982, if a person has never smoked by age 18, the odds are 3 to 1 they never will. By 21, their odds are 20 to 1 they never will,” Ferguson said.
Health officials say allowing access to tobacco starting at age 21 would save the state millions of dollars in health care costs down the road.
The measure would also apply to e-cigarettes and vaporizer pens that contain nicotine. All other vaping equipment could still be available to 18 year olds.
So far no states have bumped up age limits for tobacco to 21, but a few cities have. After Needham, Massachusetts made the switch, the city saw a 50 percent drop in tobacco use among its high school students.
