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[Khaos Kontrol]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/health/hea...moking-age-to-21/ar-AApmp6c?OCID=ansmsnnews11

Over the strenuous objections of the governor, Maine has become the fourth U.S. state to raise the legal smoking age to 21. The state’s House and Senate voted Wednesday to override a veto from Gov. Paul LePage.

Opponents of the bill had raised concerns that raising the age from 18 would create a black market for cigarettes, that could lead to drug abuse.

“We will see cigarettes becoming a product of the black market, sold by black market drug dealers who are selling more than just cigarettes and attracting new clients to their harder products,” said Republican state Sen. Eric Brakey.

The governor’s objections were more centered on restricting the rights of adults and the impact on the state’s grocery and convenience stores.

The bill, which goes into effect July 1, 2018, will see Maine join Hawaii, California and New Jersey in requiring buyers of tobacco products to be 21. Over 250 cities and localities throughout the country have similar laws on the books, including Chicago, Boston and San Francisco.

Lock if old.

 

[Linkura]

First thought was being surprised LePage would sign it.

Of course he didn't.

 

[shnurgleton]

They should just lower the drinking age to 18 instead of this crap

 

[serenewarfare]

I will never understand the military age being 18 while the drinking (and in some places smoking) age is 21.

 

[off duty ninja]

They should just lower the drinking age to 18 instead of this crap

Naw, y'all just need to grow up.

I will never understand the military age being 18 while the drinking (and in some places smoking) age is 21.

I agree with this. Personally I think they should raise the military age to 21 but then they wouldn't be able to prey on the young and naive.

 

[#sorrynotsorry]

I will never understand the military age being 18 while the drinking (and in some places smoking) age is 21.

Just because you can fight and kill has literally no bearing on whether you can make good decisions. It's the reason we don't elect leaders based on physical strength anymore.

Cigarettes are literally evil. They should be banned. But this will likely save some young adults from a lifetime of economic and mental dependence on a drug. That seems worthy of support.

 

[smokeymicpot]

Good.

 

[FlowersisBritish]

Ha! I bet my sister is glad she's moving to New York in a week.

Edit: also lol at "Strenuous objections" I don't think I've heard someone be so polite to LePage in months.

 

[Earthbound64]

Good on them.

 

[T.O.P]

Should be like this everywhere tbh

 

[Old Gimlet Eyes]

Raise the adult age to 21 then.

 

[Resident_UA]

Smoking sucks, but this is a bit insane. At 18 you can join an army and kill people, but you can't even have a cigarette afterwards?

 

[Gordon Shumway]

Raise the adult age to 21 then.

Bah..they'll lower enlistment age to 16 before they pull that.

 

[SpecX]

Raise the adult age to 21 then.

If they do this, then start funding these "kids" through college as well so by the time they hit 21 they will be fully educated and free to drink and smoke.

 

[Dreadnought]

I hate smoking but this is a blow to personal rights. Everything should just be 18 or lower

 

[ClosingADoor]

Smoking sucks, but this is a bit insane. At 18 you can join an army and kill people, but you can't even have a cigarette afterwards?

Agreed. Either you are an adult and can do all things that come with it, or you are not. Locking drinking and smoking away until 21 makes little sense.

 

[Transistor]

If they do this, then start funding these "kids" through college as well so by the time they hit 21 they will be fully educated and free to drink and smoke.

And hopefully smart enough not to

 

[Sulik2]

Just make it illegal to sell cigarettes to anyone born after 1999 from here on out. People who already smoke can smoke until they die, but no one regardless of age will ever be allowed to buy cigarettes if they were born after 2000 and aren't 18 now. In a generation smoking is gone and the health and environmental burden forever removed without dealing with current smokers not being able to get their cigarettes if you just outright banned it.

 

[collige]

Just because you can fight and kill has literally no bearing on whether you can make good decisions. It's the reason we don't elect leaders based on physical strength anymore.

I would say that signing away your bodily autonomy to the state and putting your life at risk is a considerably bigger decision than using drugs.

 

[Dishwalla]

Just make it illegal to sell cigarettes to anyone born after 1999 from here on out. People who already smoke can smoke until they die, but no one regardless of age will ever be allowed to buy cigarettes if they were born after 2000 and aren't 18 now. In a generation smoking is gone and the health and environmental burden forever removed without dealing with current smokers not being able to get their cigarettes if you just outright banned it.

haha, propose this to Philip Morris or RJ Reynolds or whomever, see what they say.

 

[ShironRedshift]

Agreed. Either you are an adult and can do all things that come with it, or you are not. Locking drinking and smoking away until 21 makes little sense.

Well, that's in large part because that those are decided by different levels of government. Stuff like legal age to smoke tobacco is left up to the states, but age of enlistment is determined by the federal government. That naturally leads to discrepancies, particularly when some of these things (such as minimum age of enlistment) are much more difficult to get the momentum to change period even if they could be decided at whatever level.

That said, I am generally in favor of the general age of being an "adult" becoming higher than not, as that's what the current science suggests--that our prefrontal cortexes don't truly finish development until around the age of 23. So, using something like that as the basis for when we become adults that's based on actual science, makes much more sense than just picking an arbitrary sociocultural milestone event such as the average age of completion of secondary education

...Although, I would be a hypocrite if a said that that should indeed be ironclad, and an all-or-nothing type of thing, as my understanding from the evidence is that the legal age for consumption of alcohol being 21 in the United States does more harm than good and that nations that have lower drinking ages tend to have less problems than the United States. An age like 18 makes more sense for that from the evidence from my understanding, despite that being younger than what I would consider to be an adult.

So, I suppose that being the case, by overaching point is that all of this should best be decided by what the actual evidence and science suggests is the best age in each individual. Being obsessed with there being one and only one legal age for becoming an "adult" where all legal privileges as such are bestowed all as once seems rather silly if that's not what the science and evidence suggests is in fact the best course of action. That's just doing it for the sake of doing it at that point/just for the sake of tying everything together with as neat a little bow as possible, and not actually because it's in either their or society's best interest to do so.

Just go where the evidence takes let, and let that evidence speak for itself and decide policy. If that's 18 for something like this, great; if it's 21, awesome. The important thing is that it's actually evidence and information gained from history and past trials and attempts that speak, and not feelings, or the need to tie everything together in as neat a package of whatever. Just pick the age that actually is the best for them, and the best for society, even if that does lead to inconsistencies like that, because it should be how it affects society and what the consequences will or will not be that matter most, and not some obsession with keeping everything "consistent" just for the sake of it being consistent. Or at least that's how I feel.

 

[TAJ]

Now D-Money, Shifty and Smoothy can make money selling cigs to 18yos.

 

[Gnome Scat]

Good.

 

[Basileus777]

Do these increased age limits even work? Are there studies backing this or is this just an empty act?

 

[Relentless 757]

They should just lower the drinking age to 18 instead of this crap

I find it absurd that you can die for this country at 16/18, but you can't legally have beer. You're old enough to kill, but not drink?

 

[ExVicis]

I would say that signing away your bodily autonomy to the state and putting your life at risk is a considerably bigger decision than using drugs.

And it's more than just giving up that even. You're basically giving up your entire being to the American Government.

 

[The Wraith]

Aren't kids not smoking anywhere near as much anymore? If you're making the legal age of cigarettes and liquor 21 then make enlistment for the armed services be 21 at the youngest as well.

 

[TheHolyTurnip]

Just make it illegal to sell cigarettes to anyone born after 1999 from here on out. People who already smoke can smoke until they die, but no one regardless of age will ever be allowed to buy cigarettes if they were born after 2000 and aren't 18 now. In a generation smoking is gone and the health and environmental burden forever removed without dealing with current smokers not being able to get their cigarettes if you just outright banned it.

Now THIS would create the black market for cigarettes that LePage apparently says will happen under the 21 and over law. Never underestimate the human propensity to want and acquire what you can't have.

 

[Dishwalla]

I find it absurd that you can die for this country at 16/18, but you can't legally have beer. You're old enough to kill, but not drink?

If you go overseas on deployment many commands will let you drink. The commands I've been with have let 18-20 year olds drink in countries where the limit was 18. Just can't do it on home soil.

 

[Basileus777]

Just make it illegal to sell cigarettes to anyone born after 1999 from here on out. People who already smoke can smoke until they die, but no one regardless of age will ever be allowed to buy cigarettes if they were born after 2000 and aren't 18 now. In a generation smoking is gone and the health and environmental burden forever removed without dealing with current smokers not being able to get their cigarettes if you just outright banned it.

Sounds like a great way to create more crime and reduce tax revenue while not actually stopping people from smoking.

 

[Fuzzy]

Bah..they'll lower enlistment age to 16 before they pull that.

They should just draft all HS dropouts into the military. Might as well have them do something with their lives.