Opinions from around the country

In a move that has the best of intentions but, at the same time, lacks any foresight whatsoever, members of the California Medical Association proposed raising the legal smoking age from 18 to 21.

They are proposing individuals who wish to light up a tried-and-true tobacco cigarette be the same age as those who buy alcoholic beverages. This is in the hopes that young people will be discouraged from picking up the habit.

Few people start smoking at 18, once they hit the legal age. Many start during adolescence when they are more susceptible to peer pressure and other influences.
Many children are influenced on the smoking issue by their parents, the people who are most influential in a young person’s life.

Raising the legal age to 21 would do absolutely nothing to combat this type of influence, and may in actuality fuel the curiosity of young people. When a child is told not to do something, that may actually be the first thing the child does when no one is looking.

The American Lung Association said spending money researching and pursuing a law like this would be a waste of money. The money used could be much better spent on enforcing existing cigarette laws.

People are rarely issued a ticket for underage tobacco use, yet underage drinking tickets are doled out on a regular basis. If the penalty was stiffer for offenders, the desire to smoke might not outweigh the fear of punishment. It is not as if tobacco has the same mind-altering effects as alcohol or illegal drugs, which would warrant the same precautionary measures to be taken.

It is ironic that the government, both state and federal, takes such a “hands-off” approach to such a sweeping entity as business, but instead attempts to regulate what the proper age is to start smoking. This is a personal decision that should not be regulated. It seems as if there is a big government influence in the wrong area of peoples’ lives.

There is simply no evidence to support the claim that such a change in law would do anything to curb the number of new smokers.

As long as an addictive product like cigarettes continues to be produced and pushed upon the public, young people will pick up the habit.

This editorial comes from The Daily Vidette at Illinois State University.
This column was distributed by U-Wire.

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TCU Daily Skiff © 2002