REDO: California government has made a step toward stopping underage tobacco use, or have they?
By Martina Perina, Staff Writer
Each year, approximately 480,000 people die from smoking in the United States. That’s 1,300 deaths every day, or about one every minute. Teenage smoking of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) has substantially increased in the last five years and shows no sign of slowing down. Smoking continues to be the leading cause of preventable death in America, but that never seems to bother anyone. Except for Jerry Brown, governor of California, who just recently raised the minimum legal age for tobacco products from 18 to 21 (signed on May 4, 2016). The bill includes all cigarettes and e-cigarette products. This bill can potentially be the push that California needs to combat teen smoking and hopefully prompt neighboring states to do the same. However, this new bill will prove unsuccessful in stopping teenage smoking.
In recent years, smoking and tobacco products have taken a new form: e-cigarettes. This new trend commonly known as “vaping” (nicknamed after the vaporizer) has become a hit with many high school and middle school children. E-cigarettes are devices that vaporize a nicotine-containing liquid comprised of food based oils mixed with flavoring, which is then inhaled as an aerosol. The big smoke clouds and the sweet flavored liquids make vaping very appealing to young consumers. E-cigarette companies have rapidly increased their spending on advertising from $6.4 million in 2011 to $115 million in 2014. A study from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that with the increase of advertising, there has been an increase in e-cigarette use. From 2011-2014, e-cigarette use increased from less than 1% to almost 4% among middle school students and from less than 2% to 13% among high school students.
The big question is, will raising the legal minimum age for smoking stop this trend? The study from the CDC confirms that middle school and high school students use e-cigarettes. Most of these students are well below the old and new legal ages for smoking, 18 and 21 respectively. If the increase in smoking continues, the legal minimum age will never be a stopping force, because clearly these students have easy access to these products under the nose of the law. Students often have connections to people who are of legal age and are willing to buy and sell these products. This new law is seen by the public as a strong step toward stopping underage users, but in reality it will prove to be nothing more than a signed piece of paper. If students can gain access to drugs that are virtually illegal everywhere, such as marijuana, then they can no doubt have an even easier time gaining access to cigarettes that are legal but with an age limit.
The mere idea of raising the minimum legal age for tobacco products to prevent underage use is not only laughable, it’s a huge paradox! Teens are already using e-cigarettes underage, so why would raising the legal age make any difference? Raising the legal age will not stop underage use.