California Lawmakers Raise Minimum Smoking Age from 18 to 21

March 21st, 2016

Awake Goy

Unless you’re in the military, Californians will need to be 21 to
smoke if bill becomes law.

If a bill passed by California legislators is signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown, Californians would be required to be 21 years of age before smoking. The law would not apply to persons in the military who are 18.

Other parts of the anti-smoking bill include: treating e-cigarettes the same as tobacco products; completely banning tobacco in all schools; permitting local governments to tax tobacco products in addition to state level taxes; increasing fees for tobacco sellers from a one-time fee of $100 to an annual fee of $265; raising the annual fee for tobacco distributers from $1,000 to $1,200; extending the smoking ban (“smoke-free areas”) to include bars, the lobbies and meeting rooms of hotels, workroom break places, and most businesses with more than five employees.

The Associated Press reported that tobacco interests lobbied against the bill which also faced opposition from many Republicans. Among the organizations supporting the bill were the American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association, the California Medical Association, and the Service Employees International Union.

Data from the office of the U.S. Surgeon General notes the majority of smokers start before they’re 18. According to an estimate by The Preventing Tobacco Addiction Foundation, the first five years after raising the smoking age to 21 would greatly reduce smoking during pregnancy, prevent approximately 530 cases of premature birth, and prevent 1,300 cases of low birth weight. The Foundation also estimated a savings of $102 million in health care spending and a loss of $74,500 million in tobacco tax revenue.

The American Cancer Society noted that “Tobacco claims the lives of 40,000 Californians each year and costs the state more than $13 billion in medical expenses. Over $3.5 billion are taxpayer dollars used to treat Medi-Cal patients with tobacco-related illnesses.”

Should the bill become law, California would become the second state to raise the age limit for smoking. Hawaii already has such a law. So do more than 100 cities across the nation according to Tobacco 21; among those cities are New York, Boston, and San Francisco.