Survey: Majority Of Americans, Including Smokers, Say Age Limit For Tobacco Sales Should Be 21

By Dr Deepu

Survey: Majority Of Americans, Including Smokers, Say Age Limit For Tobacco Sales Should Be 21

The Washington Post (7/8, Dennis) “To Your Health” blog reports the findings of an online survey of over 4,000 US adults published Tuesday in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found 75 percent of adults, including nearly 70 percent of smokers, favor putting the age limit for tobacco sales on par with those of alcohol. The poll was conducted by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Scientists in the study said setting the legal minimum age at 21 instead of 19 would have a “substantially greater impact” because teenagers can pick up smoking from friends or relatives around the same age. Brian King, a co-author of the report and an acting deputy director for CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, said in a statement about the findings: “Raising the minimum age of sale to 21 could benefit the health of Americans in several ways.”

        The Los Angeles Times (7/8, Kaplan) adds that that poll shows that 50 percent of US adults “strongly favor” increasing the age to 21, while 25 percent said they “somewhat favor” the increase. Only 11 percent said they “strongly oppose” the move, while 14 percent said they would “somewhat oppose” it. The poll also shows 77 percent of people who had never been smokers support raising the minimum age to 21.

        TIME (7/8) reports that Hawaii recently became the first state to increase its legal smoking age to 21. Alabama, Alaska, New Jersey and Utah have set the minimum age as 19.

        The Hill (7/8, Wheeler) reports American Heart Association (AHA) CEO Nancy Brown said in a statement, “If we can keep young Americans from buying tobacco until they turn 21, we could prevent 223,000 premature deaths among those born between 2000 and 2019,” citing numbers from the Institute of Medicine.

        The Winston-Salem (NC) Journal (7/8, Craver), HealthDay (7/8), and Washington Examiner (7/8, Cunningham) also report on this story.