The standard age for legal smoking has long been 18, but recent trends are pushing that number upwards as legislators and health experts examine the question of how old someone should be to purchase cigarettes. The idea of increasing the smoking age first took root in Massachusetts, then made waves in Hawaii. Here’s a closer look at what’s happening in the smoking age debate.
The Needham Experiment
In 2005, Needham, Massachusetts began gradually increasing the legal age for tobacco sales. Between 2005 and 2008, the city increased the age from 18 to 21. Though surrounding Boston suburbs maintained the legal age of 18, Needham’s efforts made a significant point.
The impact of the city’s efforts emerged in a study by the MetroWest Health Foundation. Researchers surveyed high school students in 29 Boston suburbs between 2006 and 2010. While cigarette smoking fell only moderately in suburbs that maintained the legal smoking age of 18, it took a major dive in Needham. Smoking dropped by more than 50 percent among Needham students, despite the fact that they could have purchased cigarettes in neighboring areas.
How Raising the Age Can Help
Needham’s success is attributed to the popularity of social smoking. Teen smoking results more frequently from social sources than from direct cigarette sales. When the legal purchase age rose to 21, it removed many buyers from high school social circles. The tobacco industry itself argues against raising the legal tobacco sales age to 21 because it will eliminate the market of 18- to 20-year-olds who account for a massive 70 percent market share.
Young Adults and Brain Maturity
Historically, 18 has been considered a benchmark for adulthood, marking the age when young adults can vote and join the military. However, recent research has shown that there’s no scientific evidence to back up 18 as the magic age when young brains reach maturity. In fact, 18-year-olds are only about halfway through the process of developing their prefrontal cortex.
The prefrontal cortex is responsible for helping plan and organize behavior. It also plays a major role in controlling impulses. Older teens are notorious for engaging in risky behavior.
This paints a compelling picture for those in favor of increasing the age for legal tobacco use. At age 18, young adults still have undeveloped brains and are prone to reckless behavior. This increases the likelihood that they’ll experiment with tobacco use, follow the impulse to continue, and become addicted before they’re old enough to purchase alcohol or rent a car in most states.
Hawaii Leads the Way
In June, 2015, Hawaii became the first state to raise the legal age for tobacco sales to 21. Though this is the first state to raise the legal smoking age, 107 cities in nine states have also increased the smoking age, as of December 2015. This covers more than 14.6 million people, and the net is set to get wider. Washington state and California are poised to follow Hawaii, raising the legal smoking age statewide.
In Hawaii, 90 percent of smokers begin before the age of 21. Though many receive cigarettes from friends and relatives, raising age restrictions for purchasing tobacco may have a similar effect as it did in Needham, changing the landscape of social groups and removing cigarettes from the immediate grasp of high school students and other young smokers.
The increased smoking age will also make it more difficult for underage buyers to get their hands on cigarettes. A teenager of 16 or 17 may slip past a clerk who doesn’t check ID and takes them for 18-year-olds. However, it will be more difficult for these potential buyers to pass for 21, shifting the entire landscape for young smokers.
Public Attitude Toward Young Smokers
In an interview with BU Today, School of Public Health professor William DeJong commented on the stigmatization that often accompanies smoking. Raising the legal age to 21 sends a strong message that adult residents believe tobacco is a dangerous product that young people shouldn’t experiment with. This attitude is prevalent not only in Hawaii, but also among many American adults.
In a 2014 survey, half of United States adults said they were strongly in favor in raising the legal smoking age to 21, and another 25 percent were somewhat in favor of the action. The numbers were highest among people who had never smoked, with 78 percent of these respondents strongly or somewhat in favor of raising the legal age. About 75 percent of former smokers and 70 percent of current smokers were strongly or somewhat in favor of increased age restrictions as well.
Opponents of Increased Age Restrictions
The argument for higher age restrictions for tobacco products is strong, but many people still oppose them. Smokers already face high taxes and bans on public smoking, so the latest trends toward further increases in legislation are difficult for many swallow.
The most common argument against increasing the legal age is related to the fact that 18-year-olds are permitted other liberties, such as voting and enlisting in the armed forces. Opponents of the older age limit argue that young people who can find themselves in these adult situations should have a choice as to whether or not they want to use tobacco products. Some also argue that restricting tobacco sales will hurt small businesses and punish existing smokers.
With a growing number of localities taking action to increase their age restrictions, there may come a day when 21 is a more common age for legal tobacco use than 18, putting it in line with alcohol. It still remains to be seen whether other states will join Hawaii, or whether the change will stay small but spread far, as with the 82 Massachusetts localities that now have a legal age of 21 for tobacco purchases. What is certain is that this is a topic that anyone interested in the future of tobacco use in the U.S. should follow.
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