Engrossed House Bill 1074 – increasing the minimum legal age of sale of tobacco and vapour products

I started smoking at a pretty young age. I suppose it was down to peer pressure, and not having the guts to say ‘no’. I read about Washington State House of Representatives passing E.H.B. 1074. It is an ACT Relating to protecting youth from tobacco products and vapour products by increasing the minimum legal age of sale of tobacco and vapour products. The age was 18 and they are proposing to raise it to 21.

I am not mad at that. I gave up smoking more than a year ago…in fact, 1 year and 4 months and I have not looked back. If this act helps to deter youth from picking up this filthy habit, I am all for it as I said.

The legislature recognizes that many people who purchase cigarettes for minors are between the ages of eighteen to twenty. By decreasing the number of eligible buyers in high school, raising the minimum legal age to sell tobacco and vapor products will decrease the access of students to tobacco products. According to the 2014 healthy youth survey, forty-one percent of tenth graders say it is “sort of easy” to “very easy” to get cigarettes. Nationally, among  youth who smoke, more than twice as many get their cigarettes from social sources than from a store or vending machine. The legislature recognizes that ninety-five percent of 19 smokers start by the age of twenty-one.

That’s good. Let us make it even harder for those to pick up smoking