Raise The Age...and keep raising it...

Today the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a call for raising the legal age to purchase and consume tobacco products from 18 to 21.  There a countless studies and whitepapers elaborating on the benefits of raising the age...primarily in increased number of years lived.  But there are probably additional benefits such as reduced respiratory issues and decreased second-hand smoking impacts.

Given what we know about tobacco products today, there's no way smokable products (as they are currently produced) would ever get FDA approval.  But, since we have millions of folks addicted to smoking, and we know how well Prohibition went over, it's not feasible to simply ban tobacco products.  But there is a workable compromise....

Starting in 2016 raise the legal age by 1 year every year.  That way anybody who is of age to smoke on Jan 1, 2016 will always have the option of smoking.  And nobody that didn't have that option on Jan 1, 2016 will ever have to give up something they had...well...legally had.  Unlike Prohibition, we wouldn't be taking anything away from anybody.  We'd just be doing what we expect the FDA to do...not allow deadly products on the shelves of our stores.

Smoking

Nicotine is one of the, if not the, most addictive substances known to science.  By itself, chronic, low level nicotine exposure doesn't usually cause major medical issues…beside physical addiction.  But when you couple the addictive nature of nicotine with the other chemicals found in cigarettes, you end up with a lot of dead people.  In fact, about 20% of all deaths in the US every year are smoking related.

Given the ongoing battle between personal rights and public good, we've struggled to develop an effective strategy to eliminate smoking and the associated costs, both monetary and organic.  While we have made progress in reducing the percentage of people who smoke and the absolute number of smokers (well, maybe nature gets and assist with that one) through higher taxes, public service campaigns and educational initiatives in schools, we can do better.  Here’s one approach….

Currently the age at which one can legally purchase and\or consume cigarettes in the US, which varies by locality, is 18 or 19.   I recommend that we increase the legal age by one year, every year, until it is at 30.  Anybody who can legally purchase cigarettes today will always be able to legally purchase them.  Anybody who can’t legally purchase cigarettes today will have to wait until they’re 30 to do so. 

Some may argue that government doesn't have the authority to execute this plan….why not?  The government already has the authority to establish the legal age today at 18\19, why does it lose that authority when it wants to raise the age?

Some may argue that if one is old enough to serve their country in combat, they are old enough to smoke.  It appears lost on those offering this line of reasoning that a soldier doesn’t walk off the street and onto the battle field as easily as one walks out of a store with a pack of cigarettes.  Soldiers go through 9 months, at a minimum, of training on how to ‘serve their country in combat’ before actually getting into combat.  They are trained on how to serve and then, while serving, they receive additional training…all the while being supervised, corrected and taught by those with more experience.  Exactly what training, continuing education and structured guidance does one get when they become a smoker?

So why is a solution that protects the ‘rights’ of people already engaged in smoking while addressing the socialized costs of smoking unlikely to gain much traction with politicians?   $17,157,014,000…that’s the amount of revenue generated in 2009 from taxes on all forms of tobacco.  Seventeen billion dollars is a lot of money, even for politicians ensconced in DC.   Yet it pales in comparison to the monetary costs to society of tobacco use which tops $200,000,000,000 per year in lost productivity, health care costs, and premature deaths.  (there is some savings in that smokes tend to die at an earlier age than non-smokers, but not early enough to show a net savings).   The problem for politicians is that the revenue is easily identified and booked in near-time speed, while the costs are hidden and cumulative over a life-time.   I can get (re)elected by bringing home the pork for my constituents, they can see the value I bring them as their representative and they’ll vote me in.  But I have a very difficult time demonstrating how I’ve actually saved lives and money when I voted ‘yes’ to increase the legal age.

So we slowly march on making limited and sporadic improvements in our fight against the costs of smoking.