TOW #20: Nonfiction Text- Raise the Legal Age for Cigarette Sales to 21 - The NY Times Editorial Board

      In the past century American’s attitude towards smoking has changed dramatically. In the 1950s brands like, Lucky Strike, Camel, Newport, Spud, and many other brands, advertised their cigarettes with the help of cheerful spokesmen, catchy jingles, and testimonies that would lead a viewer to believe cigarettes were healthy. However, as time progressed and advancements in medicine proved a link between smoking and lung cancer, American’s attitudes began to change for the better. With medical advancements, laws preventing smoking indoors, as well as other public places, and anti-smoking ad campaigns, smoking has declined in popularity significantly. Despite smoking having decreased in popularity, the issue still remains. In an editorial by the New York Times Editorial Board exclaims that in California the age requirement for smoking could be changed from 18 to 21. This is an action that would be beneficial to the citizens of California and the United States as a whole if the rest of the nation follows, as it would make it more difficult for kids under the age of 21 to get cigarettes, in turn protecting them from becoming addicted and increasing their risk for lung cancer.
Age does matter in terms of preventing addiction to smoking, therefore increasing the age limit of smoking to 21 could have a significant impact on reducing the amount of smokers in the United States. The human brain does not fully develop until around 25. Raising the age limit to 21 is meant “to reduce young people’s access to tobacco when they are more likely to become addicted and when their brains are still developing,” (5). And according to an Institute of Medicine study published last year, “About 90 percent of adult smokers first use cigarettes before turning 19, and almost all smokers start before age 26,” (5). Overall, the study concluded that changing the age to 21 should prevent 223,000 premature deaths and collectively add 4.2 million years to the lives of those born between 2000 and 2019 (6). The benefits are self evident. With the age limit raised, more lives can be saved, and America and the world can kick a disgusting habit.
        Raising the age limit would be beneficial to Californians, in that with the increased difficulty to acquire cigarettes under the age of 21, it could also prevent a lifetime of addiction along with an increased risk to lung cancer. With lung cancer being the #1 killer of all cancers worldwide, this law could change that. It could also, hopefully, act as a catalyst to enact more legislation against smoking, in turn saving more lives, not just limited to those in California, but nationwide.