BY BRIAN FOJTIK
In what has become somewhat of a Texas tradition, the state Legislature is once again considering a proposal to raise the smoking age from 18 to 21. It’s the sixth time a version of the plan has been introduced in recent years. If the law passes, Texas would join just California and Hawaii as states where you must be 21-years-old to buy tobacco products.
It’s also an especially odd time for Texas to be pushing for a older smoking age, as researchers recently found youth smoking rates have plummeted to record lows.
“Cigarette smoking among teens in grades 12, 10 and 8 continued a decades-long decline in 2016 and reached the lowest levels recorded since annual tracking began 42 years ago,” according to a 2016 study by the University of Michigan called Monitoring the Future.
Similar success is playing out in Texas. The Texas Youth Risk Behavior Survey reveals that while 28.4 percent of Texas high school students smoked in 2001, the percentage dropped to 14.1 in 2013. And data updated just last month from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids reveals that smoking among Texas high school students has continued dropping to its current low of 10.6 percent.
But those in support of House Bill 1908, recently told members during a hearing of the House Health Committee that protecting kids was their primary motive. But it’s not at all clear how younger kids — who can’t legally buy cigarettes now — would be helped if this bill becomes law. The Surgeon General says that nearly nine out of 10 smokers have already started smoking by the age of 18. So this bill wouldn’t impact the 90 percent of kids already smoking by 18, it will only impact adults between the ages of 18 and 21.
Those over-18 adults should be free to make their own choices.
Stephen Belcher testified against the bill, explaining that his son, who isn’t yet 21, serves in the U.S. Marine Corps and uses smokeless tobacco. Belcher argued that his son “can make his own medical decisions, can run for office, choose to fight for his country and choose to die for me and you, but he can’t choose to use smokeless tobacco?”
Belcher makes important points. At 18, Texans can get married, buy guns, own credit cards, vote, and join the military. If an 18-year-old commits a crime in Texas, they’ll be charged as an adult and could even face the death penalty. Banning an 18-year-old Marine from buying smokeless tobacco doesn’t make sense.
If this bill becomes law, the Legislative Budget Board estimates that only 33 percent of affected adults would actually obey it. Thus, it’s worth questioning the value of a law that 66 percent — two-thirds — of those affected would be expected to routinely violate. What challenges would that pose for law enforcement?
Smokers are disproportionately poor and less educated than the overall population. Does Texas want its low-income 19- and 20-year-olds ticketed and fined for trying to buy cigarettes?
As vaping shop owner Courtney Mendoza told state lawmakers: “It’s my mother’s job to tell me not to smoke, not the state of Texas.”
