US: Florida May Raise Tobacco-buying Age To 21

Young adults would no longer be allowed to buy tobacco products under a bill filed Tuesday by Central Florida lawmakers.
 

Sen. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, is sponsoring SB 1288, which would increase the minimum legal age from 18 to 21 to buy cigarettes, tobacco chew and electronic vaping devices and products.
 

“Raising the age limit for smoking to 21 years is essential if we are serious about saving lives and reducing the cost of health care,” he said in a released statement. “In addition to the tragedy to smokers and their families caused by lung cancer, coronary heart disease, stroke, and emphysema, cigarette smoking burdens America’s health care system by nearly $170 billion annually in direct medical care for adults, according to the Center for Disease Control.”
 

The penalty would be 20 hours of community service for a first offense, and 40 hours for a second offense within a year.
 

Vendors who sell tobacco to underage consumers would be hit with fines of up to $500 for a first offense, and up to $1,000 for a second offense.
 

A similar bill, HB 1029, was filed in the House by Rep. Don Hahnfeldt, R-The Villages, who estimated it would save nearly $17 billion in health care costs and lost productivity that results from tobacco-related diseases in Florida alone.
 

A push to raise the legal smoking age to 21 is a growing movement across the country, helped by anti-smoking groups like the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and Counter Tobacco. Five states — California, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey and Oregon — have increased the legal age to 21, as well as more than 250 municipalities nationwide.
 

The measure, though, has sparked criticism from opponents who decry it as a “nanny state” idea.
 

In July, Maine Gov. Paul LePage vetoed a bill passed by lawmakers in his state to raise the legal tobacco age to 21, bashing it as “social engineering” that coddles young adults old enough to vote, get married, divorced and serve in the military. Maine’s Legislature, however, overrode the veto a month later.
 

Florida lawmakers will consider the bills when they gather for a 60-day legislative session Jan. 9.
 

It’s unclear whether the Florida proposal will make it into law. The GOP-controlled Legislature faces a likely budget shortfall because of Hurricane Irma, and if the bill became law, it would likely mean a decrease in cigarette tax revenues.