Hawaii Changes Legal Smoking Age To 21

[BringThePain834]

HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii is raising the legal smoking to age 21 for traditional and electronic cigarettes on Jan. 1, becoming the first state in the nation to do so.

Public health officials are hoping that by making it more difficult for young people to get their hands on cigarettes, they will keep them from developing an unhealthy addiction.

"In Hawaii, about one in four students in high school try their first cigarette each year, and one in three who get hooked will die prematurely," said Lola Irvin, administrator with the chronic disease prevention and health promotion division of the Hawaii Department of Health.

Officials included electronic smoking devices in the law after noticing a spike in the number of students trying electronic cigarettes. The percentage of Hawaii public high school students smoking electronic cigarettes quadrupled over four years to 22 percent in 2015, and among middle-schoolers, 12 percent reported using them in 2015, a sixfold increase over four years.

While Hawaii is the first state to raise the smoking age to 21, more than 100 cities and counties have already done so, including New York City. The town of Needham, Massachusetts, raised the smoking age to 21 in 2005, and a decade later the percentage of adults smoking was 50 percent lower than the rest of the state.

Several military bases in Hawaii expressed their support for the move, saying their bases would comply with the state law.

"We see it as a fitness and readiness issue," said Bill Doughty, spokesman for the Navy Region Hawaii. "When we can prevent sailors from smoking or using tobacco, if we can get them to quit, then that improves their fitness and readiness, and it saves them a ton of money too."

But critics say that if a man or woman is old enough to potentially die defending their country, they're old enough to make a decision about smoking. "If you can serve the country, you should be able to have a drink and a cigarette," said Justin Warren, 22, an X-ray technician in the Army.

Taylor Dwyer, 21, also an Army X-ray technician, said smoking is a "way for us to come down after the work day. It's not like a regular work day. It's a lot more stressful, especially for people who are in combat jobs."

Rear Adm. John Fuller, commander of Navy Region Hawaii, countered those arguments in a blog post, saying "If someone is young enough to fight for their country, they should be free from addiction to a deadly drug."

As the state begins enforcing the law, the first three months of the year will be dedicated to educating the public, so warnings will be handed out instead of fines, officials said.

After that, young people caught smoking will be fined $10 for the first offense and $50 or community service for any further offenses. Retailers caught selling cigarettes to people under 21 can be fined $500 for the first offense and up to $2,000 for later offenses.

The Health Department has distributed about 4,000 signs to 650 vendors, said Lila Johnson, public health educator at the agency. To reach tourists, officials have been meeting with representatives from the tourism industry, business and hotels, and officials plan to produce signs in different languages, she said.

"People are going to be coming in and out of our state that aren't aware of it," Johnson said. "It's a matter of education. We hope to see a lot more states picking it up so we're not the only one."

Sabrina Olaes, 18, said she started organizing events to educate her classmates about the dangers of smoking after getting frustrated finding herself surrounded by fumes from electronic cigarettes in the girl's bathroom at her school.

She called the tobacco industry's marketing practices deceptive, and said some of the flavors of electronic cigarettes are targeted at young people. But her smoking friends didn't always want to hear what she had to say.

"It's not easy conveying your opinions to people who may not agree with you, and I've definitely made a lot of enemies, but also a lot of allies," Olaes said. "Even though you don't get them to quit right away, you do get them to second-guess their choices."

Sure, why not? It's not like young people want to do things even more when they are not supposed to. Perhaps military recruiters should stop recruiting anyone under 21 as well. Why? Because anyone old enough to serve in the military should be able to make their own choices. If you are old enough to help select the people who make laws, you should not have laws passed that discriminate against you because of your age. Another thing that bothers me about this is that this is another case of our government sending mixed messages on what age someone becomes an adult. You can vote when you are 18, you can fight (and die) for your country when you are 18, and you can drive with an unrestricted license when you are 18. Telling someone that they can't legally smoke (or drink for that matter) until they are 21 totally contradicts all the other messages that we send about the age that one becomes an adult. I wish we could just make one age equate to the definition of being an adult and then be consistent about it. Is that age 18 or is it 21?

 

[A11oftheLights]

While i see your point, especially the part about youth doing something specifically because they arent meant to, however I feel that gradually adding to the rights an individual has is the smarter way to go about, particularly with driving and alcohol. Giving somebody a bunch of rights at once could see some get drunk on the freedom and just do a bunch of stupid shit all at once.

Driving and alcohol is the one I'd like to see change over here in Australia, too many young people end up drinking and driving. I think the better way to execute the idea would be to let people drink in clubs, pubs, bars, etc. first as that way they get a better idea of all the stupid things they do drunk and can then imagine how they would be in a car while intoxicated. As opposed to trying to execute all their privileges at once or thinking they are an experienced driver and will be able to drive under the influence

 

[Khalifa]

I agree with the laws making kids want to do it more in a sense, which is still the stupidest thing ever because it is a law for a reason. However 21 is a fair age in which I think you can say "alright you are now ready to kill yourselves if you want" because there is no justification in smoking a cigarette so there is no problem in fining people before 21 in my opinion. Alcohol is the same but in a different way ( ), If it is moderated then I don't have a problem with it but if people are complaining that they cant drink alcohol because you have to be 21 then I think we are all growing up the wrong way. You can enjoy other things in life as well. Even if you do implement the law it is still going to happen. I got drunk for the first time at 16 and have probably got drunk more times when I was under the legal age than over it. Like I'm sure most other kids have done in terms of the first time they go drunk. It is a good idea though to fine people if they are caught doing it because they are both drugs as well so why should we just let it slide. It doesn't benefit health at all and can actually affect someones life in a major way.

I think it's a bit different to saying when you can vote for who runs your country or that you can't go defend your country against threats. I know death is involved but to completely wipe off 3 years worth of people who could physically do the stuff they do would be potentially \ doing more harm than good. Getting to and from a work place is also very pivotal to everyday life. Imagine clustering more public transport with 18,19 and 20 year olds because they have to have a licensed driver with them. Most of them would need some way of getting to work. Would you get more people driving on the road after 18/19/20 years would find it harder to do or would you get more people on public transport? Probably in 5-10 years you would see that public transport would be at a all time high if you moved the driving age up. I know you are not saying you should do any of those things but just saying why I think it's good at 18. Where as publicly restricting people under the age of 21 to stuff they just don't need is good in my opinion.

 

[therockiswwf]

Ah yes, the incredibly dumb arguement of if you are old enough to vote/serve in the military, then you should be able to drink/smoke. Here's the thing about drinking, it hinders brain development. In fact, the age for drinking should be around 26 as that is when the brain finally matures. The reason why the drinking age is 21 now is that everyone used to think that is when the brain matured. However, that is wrong but trying to get the public to accept 26 as the new age would not go over well. But hey, you can vote at 18 which also hinders brain development...oh wait no it doesn't. Serving in the military doesn't hinder brain development.

Onto smoking, I have no idea why it's legal. I have no idea why anyone would want to use it. It kills you and smells like shit. 2nd hand smoke hurts others (this is why I think it should be illegal as you can't avoid second hand smoke in some places). I love this move by Hawaii. I lost both of my grandpas to smoking. They both started before they were 21. Hopefully this law can persuade some people to never start smoking. I applaud this move and hopefully it becomes a law for the entire country. Hopefully, smoking can be banned entirely one day. There is no need for it.

 

[A11oftheLights]

Ah yes, the incredibly dumb arguement of if you are old enough to vote/serve in the military, then you should be able to drink/smoke. Here's the thing about drinking, it hinders brain development. In fact, the age for drinking should be around 26 as that is when the brain finally matures. The reason why the drinking age is 21 now is that everyone used to think that is when the brain matured. However, that is wrong but trying to get the public to accept 26 as the new age would not go over well. But hey, you can vote at 18 which also hinders brain development...oh wait no it doesn't. Serving in the military doesn't hinder brain development.

Onto smoking, I have no idea why it's legal. I have no idea why anyone would want to use it. It kills you and smells like shit. 2nd hand smoke hurts others (this is why I think it should be illegal as you can't avoid second hand smoke in some places). I love this move by Hawaii. I lost both of my grandpas to smoking. They both started before they were 21. Hopefully this law can persuade some people to never start smoking. I applaud this move and hopefully it becomes a law for the entire country. Hopefully, smoking can be banned entirely one day. There is no need for it.

Where do you want to start with that?
-A bullet to the head can definitely stop brain development. Though I do agree with you that making the legal drinking/smoking age something else because of the military is stupid

- Smoking is legal because of the same reason alcohol is legal. Making either of these two illegal would create the biggest black markets

- As for the legal drinking age, the doctor responsible for the american legal drinking age being raised to 21 now disagrees with it and was lobbying to get it back down to 18 about 5 years ago. I cant remember every reason why but I'm pretty sure that one reason was because people were going to house parties and get absolutely wasted and destroying themselves. It's the same reason why the lockout laws that we passed in some cities in Australia fail, they dont stop the drinking or the violence that results from drinking and just pushes it into areas that it wasn't or even worse underground

 

[Hyorinmaru]

I don't see how the argument If your old enough to serve your country then you should be able to smoke/drink is dumb at all. My personal belief is if you're volunteering to risk your life then you most definitely deserve some perks that the average citizen doesn't get. If I'm coming off a mission or whatever it is and want a smoke or a drink then I should be able to have one.


All that out of the way it's time to get back on topic. Hawaii raised their smoking age to 21, good on them. I don't see how that will stop underage smoking though. People are still going to get their hands on cigarettes if they want them just like they always have no matter how old they are. Shit I got people to buy my packs at 14 years old FFS.

And what about those 18-20 year olds that just a few months ago were legally able to smoke but are now unable to. Trust me she I say any addiction is a bitch and quitting cold turkey is rarely the answer. What I see happening is young adults who otherwise would never have gotten in trouble with the law now getting in trouble for doing something they've been doing for years. Stupid if you ask me.

Good on Hawaii for doing it but I see this going the way of prohibition, good on paper but horrible when put into play and will solve nothing in the long run.

 

[therockiswwf]

Where do you want to start with that?
-A bullet to the head can definitely stop brain development. Though I do agree with you that making the legal drinking/smoking age something else because of the military is stupid

- Smoking is legal because of the same reason alcohol is legal. Making either of these two illegal would create the biggest black markets

- As for the legal drinking age, the doctor responsible for the american legal drinking age being raised to 21 now disagrees with it and was lobbying to get it back down to 18 about 5 years ago. I cant remember every reason why but I'm pretty sure that one reason was because people were going to house parties and get absolutely wasted and destroying themselves. It's the same reason why the lockout laws that we passed in some cities in Australia fail, they dont stop the drinking or the violence that results from drinking and just pushes it into areas that it wasn't or even worse underground

I get the point about the bullet in the brain but that is different. Drinking is less dangerous at 26 than any age before it. Getting shot in the head is bad at any age. Just being in the military won't hinder brain development. Drinking before 26 can hinder brain development. Studies have shown even drinking in low moderate amounts before the brain is fully mature will cause damage to the hippocampus.

I understand it would create a black market (prohibition did not go very well). However, making anything illegal causes a black market. No difference here. I'd support making illegal cigarettes causing a massive fine rather than arrests to prevent overcrowding. The reason being second hand smoke. They are not just harming themselves, they are harming others who cannot avoid it. That is why I don't get why cigarettes are legal. It shouldn't matter what kind of black market happens, cigarettes harm more than just the smoker.

I'm not sure how raising the drinking age caused people to destroy themselves at parties. I assume that happens regardless. Science says the drinking age should be 26 due to the brain. Using the reasoning of well idiots are being idiots so lets lower the drinking age is illogical.

 

[A11oftheLights]

I'm not sure how raising the drinking age caused people to destroy themselves at parties. I assume that happens regardless.

Because at a bar or a club the management and staff have the requirement to practice they safe serving of alcohol and are meant to stop serving those that are heavily intoxicated.

Science says the drinking age should be 26 due to the brain.

Science also says that the earth is getting warmer and the o-zone layer is being destroyed but we're not doing much about that either. Thats because of $$$. Governments make large amounts of money taxing cigarettes and alcohol. Raising the age would decrease that amount.

Using the reasoning of well idiots are being idiots so lets lower the drinking age is illogical.

Well then lets legalise recreational drugs then. Part of making laws is about safety, letting people consume vast amounts of alcohol that is unsafe is negligible and reckless

 

[Akhilleus]

Sure, why not? It's not like young people want to do things even more when they are not supposed to. Perhaps military recruiters should stop recruiting anyone under 21 as well. Why? Because anyone old enough to serve in the military should be able to make their own choices. If you are old enough to help select the people who make laws, you should not have laws passed that discriminate against you because of your age. Another thing that bothers me about this is that this is another case of our government sending mixed messages on what age someone becomes an adult. You can vote when you are 18, you can fight (and die) for your country when you are 18, and you can drive with an unrestricted license when you are 18. Telling someone that they can't legally smoke (or drink for that matter) until they are 21 totally contradicts all the other messages that we send about the age that one becomes an adult. I wish we could just make one age equate to the definition of being an adult and then be consistent about it.

Don't forget that you can't rent a car until you're 25.

But I don't know how I feel. You're right, if you can get drafted to war at a certain age you should be allowed to do whatever you want.

At the same time I hate smoking. I don't smoke so I don't care. Then again, I guess that's one of those it's okay until it's me scenarios.

I think the kids smoking epidemic has gone way down in the last decade. Probably because of the awareness in schools and programs like Dare.

So I don't get why they're changing it. But whatever Hawaii.

 

[SSJPhenom]

Ah yes, the incredibly dumb arguement of if you are old enough to vote/serve in the military, then you should be able to drink/smoke. Here's the thing about drinking, it hinders brain development. In fact, the age for drinking should be around 26 as that is when the brain finally matures. The reason why the drinking age is 21 now is that everyone used to think that is when the brain matured. However, that is wrong but trying to get the public to accept 26 as the new age would not go over well. But hey, you can vote at 18 which also hinders brain development...oh wait no it doesn't. Serving in the military doesn't hinder brain development.

Onto smoking, I have no idea why it's legal. I have no idea why anyone would want to use it. It kills you and smells like shit. 2nd hand smoke hurts others (this is why I think it should be illegal as you can't avoid second hand smoke in some places). I love this move by Hawaii. I lost both of my grandpas to smoking. They both started before they were 21. Hopefully this law can persuade some people to never start smoking. I applaud this move and hopefully it becomes a law for the entire country. Hopefully, smoking can be banned entirely one day. There is no need for it.

Do you know what would also hinder brain development? A bullet!!! I'm sorry but the argument of 18 being old enough to serve in the military and fight in a war so it should be old enough to drink and smoke is not a dumb argument at all. If you are old enough to make that decision of going to war and possibly die then you are old enough to say, "Hey, I think I want a drink and a cigarette". All raising the legal age of smoking is going to do is increase the number of people that get arrested or fined for being under age because whether you like it or not there is credence in the argument that kids are going to do it just because they shouldn't. When I was 15/16 and in high school, my friends and I would party and get drunk every single weekend and although we wouldn't say it at the time, we did it just because we weren't suppose too and it was exciting. I haven't been drunk nowhere near as much over the age of 21 as I was when I was under the age of 21. I know that not all people are the same, but I guarantee that there are people who think that exact same way. So, IMO, all raising the age limit on smoking is going to do is increase the number of law breakers. Also, and somebody as already pointed this out, it send mixed messages to kids in America. You're telling me that a kid is old enough to move out on their own, sign themselves out of school, be tried as an adult for crimes, vote, and fight in a war at 18 but yet they can't drink or smoke? That's ridiculous. Either all adult laws should be 21 or none of them should be 21. You're either an adult at age 18 or you're not, there's no grey area.

That's my take on it anyways.

 

[Akhilleus]

Do you know what would also hinder brain development? A bullet!!! I'm sorry but the argument of 18 being old enough to serve in the military and fight in a war so it should be old enough to drink and smoke is not a dumb argument at all. If you are old enough to make that decision of going to war and possibly die then you are old enough to say, "Hey, I think I want a drink and a cigarette". All raising the legal age of smoking is going to do is increase the number of people that get arrested or fined for being under age because whether you like it or not there is credence in the argument that kids are going to do it just because they shouldn't. When I was 15/16 and in high school, my friends and I would party and get drunk every single weekend and although we wouldn't say it at the time, we did it just because we weren't suppose too and it was exciting. I haven't been drunk nowhere near as much over the age of 21 as I was when I was under the age of 21. I know that not all people are the same, but I guarantee that there are people who think that exact same way. So, IMO, all raising the age limit on smoking is going to do is increase the number of law breakers. Also, and somebody as already pointed this out, it send mixed messages to kids in America. You're telling me that a kid is old enough to move out on their own, sign themselves out of school, be tried as an adult for crimes, vote, and fight in a war at 18 but yet they can't drink or smoke? That's ridiculous. Either all adult laws should be 21 or none of them should be 21. You're either an adult at age 18 or you're not, there's no grey area.

That's my take on it anyways.

There's always a gray area. That is the USA way. It's all about state's rights Because of that, we're always going to have different laws in different states. I really don't think it is going to make a huge difference when it comes to kids wanting to smoke. If people are really adults at 18, then they should be smart enough to realize how stupid it is to smoke a cigarette just because you're not allowed to. Besides, the ones doing that are all just smoking pot anyway.

I think it's really just another way to try and handicap smoking companies. They're already taxed to death.

Smoking and drinking are bad for you at any age. I think maybe raising the age to 21 is just a way to give people a few more years to decide. If they really want to smoke they're going to smoke. In fact I'm pretty sure where I live it's only illegal to buy cigarettes under 18, and you can smoke them at 16.

 

[SSJPhenom]

There's always a gray area. That is the USA way. It's all about state's rights Because of that, we're always going to have different laws in different states. I really don't think it is going to make a huge difference when it comes to kids wanting to smoke. If people are really adults at 18, then they should be smart enough to realize how stupid it is to smoke a cigarette just because you're not allowed to. Besides, the ones doing that are all just smoking pot anyway.

I think it's really just another way to try and handicap smoking companies. They're already taxed to death.

Smoking and drinking are bad for you at any age. I think maybe raising the age to 21 is just a way to give people a few more years to decide. If they really want to smoke they're going to smoke. In fact I'm pretty sure where I live it's only illegal to buy cigarettes under 18, and you can smoke them at 16.

Trust me, I realize how stupid it is to do something just because you're not supposed to, however, it does make doing whatever you're not supposed to be doing more exciting when you know that you're not supposed to be doing it. Unfortunately, because of that, kids smoke and drink. So again, all raising the smoking age is going to do is increase law breaking. I've been of the opinion for many years that all age appropriate laws like drinking, smoking, or such should all be at the same age. Like I said, either 18 is old enough for everything or it's not and in that case, then everything should be pushed to 21. Either you're an adult at 18 or you're not.

Also, I think Pot should be legalized and should have been legalized a long damn time ago. Put an age restriction on it like alcohol or tobacco and then sell it in packs like cigarettes. Doing that would accomplish two major things. 1. It would increase profit for our government because they'd be able to tax the shit out of it. 2. It would lower weed related crimes being committed. As I've said for the longest time, it's a fucking win win and I don't see why these dumb ass republicans don't see that. It's time to stop doing things based on tradition and start doing things because they just plain out make sense.

 

[Akhilleus]

Trust me, I realize how stupid it is to do something just because you're not supposed to, however, it does make doing whatever you're not supposed to be doing more exciting when you know that you're not supposed to be doing it. Unfortunately, because of that, kids smoke and drink. So again, all raising the smoking age is going to do is increase law breaking. I've been of the opinion for many years that all age appropriate laws like drinking, smoking, or such should all be at the same age. Like I said, either 18 is old enough for everything or it's not and in that case, then everything should be pushed to 21. Either you're an adult at 18 or you're not.

Also, I think Pot should be legalized and should have been legalized a long damn time ago. Put an age restriction on it like alcohol or tobacco and then sell it in packs like cigarettes. Doing that would accomplish two major things. 1. It would increase profit for our government because they'd be able to tax the shit out of it. 2. It would lower weed related crimes being committed. As I've said for the longest time, it's a fucking win win and I don't see why these dumb ass republicans don't see that. It's time to stop doing things based on tradition and start doing things because they just plain out make sense.

Well Marijuana is already being decriminalized in cities across the country. Taking possession down from a felony to a the same level as a traffic ticket.

Maybe I can't relate to the whole "doing it because you're not allowed" because I never did. I also can't relate to the soldiers in the opening post talking about how it "helps stress". That's more of a dependance thing to me. I personally have other ways of dealing with stress that don't involve permanetly harming my body. In fact I rarely get stressed so again I can't relate, but I think that's a pretty stupid reason to smoke. It's the same as drinking to help with depression.

Smoking is bad...mmkay. That's been established, and I suppose there is no point anymore in arguing that. So I and everyone else who is against it just has to accept that people can do whatever they want with their bodies.

So we go back to the topic on what the right age is to do that. And I agree, if we're eligible to get drafted to freaking war, then I think we should be allowed to smoke, drink, drive, gamble, have sex, rent a car, eat fried chicken, play Grand Theft Auto, etc.

Yes, have their been scientifc studies down that prove smoking and drinking is harms development? Yes, but it does the same shit three years later when you're twenty one.

 

[SSJPhenom]

Well Marijuana is already being decriminalized in cities across the country. Taking possession down from a felony to a the same level as a traffic ticket.

Maybe I can't relate to the whole "doing it because you're not allowed" because I never did. I also can't relate to the soldiers in the opening post talking about how it "helps stress". That's more of a dependance thing to me. I personally have other ways of dealing with stress that don't involve permanetly harming my body. In fact I rarely get stressed so again I can't relate, but I think that's a pretty stupid reason to smoke. It's the same as drinking to help with depression.

Smoking is bad...mmkay. That's been established, and I suppose there is no point anymore in arguing that. So I and everyone else who is against it just has to accept that people can do whatever they want with their bodies.

So we go back to the topic on what the right age is to do that. And I agree, if we're eligible to get drafted to freaking war, then I think we should be allowed to smoke, drink, drive, gamble, have sex, rent a car, eat fried chicken, play Grand Theft Auto, etc.

Yes, have their been scientific studies down that prove smoking and drinking is harms development? Yes, but it does the same shit three years later when you're twenty one.

I'll never argue against smoking being bad for one's health; that's a given, however, you said it yourself. You have your own ways of dealing with stress and depression and like you, everyone has their own ways for dealing with stress and depression and for many, that way is to drink or smoke. I'm not a smoker. Never have been and never will be. I grew up in a family where everyone from my older brother to my mom, aunts, and uncles smoked and because of that, I imagine it was just something that I didn't want to do. I mean, just from living with people that smoked, my clothes would smell like cigarettes when I put them on and there would be ashes and such all over the house and what not. I found it disgusting and because of that, no one is allowed to smoke in my house. My only gripe is, you can't tell kids that when they turn 18, that they're old enough to no longer need their parents but then turn around and tell them that smoking is a no no. Doesn't make any damn sense.

As I said, people do a lot of things in their lifetime just because someone else tells them not to. Raise the smoking age from 18 to 21 and then what do you tell all of those 18-20 year olds that have been smoking? You have to quit right now? Yesterday it was ok but today, not so much? That's bullshit.