Robert Burns

Eng. 1101
Joyce Barnes
May 3rd, 2016
Underestimated, Underrepresented, and Under-aged
Tobacco products kill a lot of people. According to the Center for
Disease Control smoking kills almost half a million people a year and is the
leading preventable cause of death in the world! Dr. David Gunnell, a
professor at the University of Bristol and extensive writer into the harms of
pesticides, states agricultural pesticides that cause 370 thousand deaths
yearly worldwide are preventable as well. So why is it that a toddler can
purchase a tomato grown using pesticides from their local Kroger, but a 20year-old adult in the city of Cleveland, Ohio cannot purchase a pack of
cigarettes? Both the city of Cleveland, Ohio and the city of Boston,
Massachusetts along with the entire state of Hawaii and many other
municipalities around the United States have raised the age to purchase
tobacco products to 21. The anti-tobacco groups argue that 18 year olds are
not mature enough to make the life altering decision of using tobacco at this
age and need more time to decide. They also argue that if the age is raised
to 21 then potential under-aged smokers who have adult friends will be less
likely to start smoking. While educating the population on the negative
effects of smoking is necessary and has drastically reduced the number of
smokers during the past 20 years, proposing laws such as bill H.R.3656 to
Congress and implementing these laws in cities and states around the
country is a step to far. If the United States deems persons who reach 18

years of age to be adults, lets them enter into legally binding contracts, join
the military, and be wholly responsible for themselves then these adults
should be able to purchase tobacco products at their own discretion
nationwide.
Now at 18 years of age young adults gain the ability to enter into
legally binding contracts like applying for a credit card. This is an exciting
and oftentimes scary concept to many young adults but can be less
foreboding and damaging with proper education on responsible credit
utilization habits. The same goes for the decision on whether or not to use
tobacco products. 18 year olds can sign up for a credit card, max it out, and
be severely in debt before they even know what APR is, this is an example of
lack of education on the matter and utilization of improper habits. While with
the right amount of available information they can alternatively sign up for a
credit card, use it responsibly, and grow their credit score to positively
impact their future credit based purchases, this is an example of making
informed decisions and expressing responsible and mature habits. An
organization called The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids argues that
Delaying the age when young people first experiment with or begin using
tobacco can reduce the risk that they will become addicted smokers.
(Increasing the Sale Age for Tobacco Products to 21). Raising the legal age to
purchase tobacco will hardly postpone young peoples experimentation with
tobacco products since most people try a cigarette well before 18 and
according to Princeton educated journalist Eric Levenson, in Utah people on

average try their first cigarette at 12.6 years of age. A method that has
proven to work whether it be in regard to credit habits or smoking cessation
is simple informative education. Educating the population on the dangers of
smoking has drastically reduced the amount of smokers nationwide. The
Center for Disease Control states that the percentage of smokers in the
United states has dropped from 24.7% in 1997 to 15.3% now. Education has
proven as a more effective way to reduce smoking then raising the age could
possibly achieve. From a more disconcerting angle how can the law
reasonably dictate that an adult person cannot purchase tobacco but can go
to war?
At 18 years of age almost any capable person residing within the
United States can join the military. If there is a draft in affect, as there has
been in numerous instances throughout United States history, then any adult
male citizen could involuntarily be enlisted into the military and refusing to
do so would be considered a federal offence. At 18 years of age male citizens
and non-citizens of the United States are required to register with the
Selective Service in case there is a draft initiated. Suppose that sometime in
the near future there is a draft and all of the 18 through 20-year-old men are
sent to fight in a grueling 6-month war. Now when they come back some of
them would like to but cannot legally purchase a pack of cigarettes. It is an
absolutely absurd notion that adults who have the ability to volunteer to go
to war as well as the legally binding duty to do so in the instance of a draft
would be denied the ability to purchase tobacco products. The brave men

and women between the ages of 18 and 20 who fight for and serve this
country can raise arms in defense of the nation but within certain states and
municipalities cannot raise a cigarette exercising their own discretion.
While there are different sides debating whether or not the age to
purchase tobacco products should be raised, it is almost undebatable that
adults are responsible for themselves and are to be held accountable for
their own actions. Whether this be in the case of confrontations with the law
or in regard to a persons health, the adult behind the action or actions is
responsible. Hypothetically speaking, if a young man made the choice to
consume excessive amounts of soda, French fries, and butter every day, that
individual would likely develop a heart condition early on and without proper
medical attention, die. This is an unfortunate hypothetical scenario and there
is much that this man could have done differently to prolong his life and keep
up with his health but he is accountable and responsible for the choices he
made. The same goes for the use of tobacco. While tobacco use has harmful
effects on the body of users, it is the users body to do what they please
with. If the decision to use tobacco products is a choice that a capable adult
makes, then there should be no infringing upon that choice. People do not
slap red meat out of the hands of people who have a high risk for heart
attacks with legislation and regulation and the same should apply for
tobacco use. It is a choice, an unhealthy choice but a choice nonetheless.
The groups and individuals who support legislation to raise the age to
purchase tobacco products to 21 do indeed have a noble cause. They simply

want to see less young adults and people in general get addicted to using
tobacco products because users of tobacco products are more at risk for
serious health complications throughout their lives. Just because a cause or a
legislation is noble and has good intentions behind it, does not mean it is
sound in reason or acceptable in a nation that widely promotes personal
freedom. The process to reduce smoking among adults that has proven over
the past 20 years to work is educating the public of the many harmful effects
tobacco use causes. Learning to be an adult is much like learning to ride a
bike and is about making decisions that only that person is held accountable
for. The training wheels are meant to come off when a person turns 18. If
new legislation is going to continue to impede upon the learning process
then why pretend to take the training wheels off at all. If the United States
deems a person to be an adult at 18, not 21, years of age, allows them to
enter into legally binding contracts, lets them serve in the military, and
considers them to be wholly responsible for themselves then upon adulthood
the ability to purchase tobacco products at their own capable discretion
should not be revoked on a federal level.

Works Cited
Buckley, Jr., William F. "The Beleaguered Smoker." National Review
54.18 (2002): 55. TOPICsearch. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.

Cooper, Mary H. "Tobacco Industry." CQ Researcher 10 Dec. 2004:

1025-48. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.
Levenson, Eric Raising the Smoking Age to 21 Is Pointless. The Wire.
(2013). The Atlantic Monthly Group. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.
Muller, Judy. "Debate Over Boosting the Smoking Age." ABC News. ABC
News Radio, 25 Feb. 2016. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.
"Cigarette Smoking in the United States." Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 14 Dec. 2015.
Web. 19 Apr. 2016.