Tobacco @ 21 in Idaho – An Opinion Piece

Should Idaho raise the legal age to buy tobacco to 21?

A local advocacy group, and this writer, believe so.

Tobacco 21 Idaho is working to get the Idaho State Legislature to raise the legal age to purchase cigarettes and tobacco to 21 years old. It's a joint effort between Boise State University, Saint Alphonsus, and the American Heart and Lung Associations. Why? The numbers don't lie, they say:

We have received significant scientific data that shows by prolonging the age of [tobacco] use you can decrease addiction rates.

The group says that if an Idaho can avoid trying tobacco until they're 21, they're much more likely to go the rest of their life without it. They plan to provide lawmakers with their proposal in a few weeks.

Those are the facts. The following is this writer's opinion.

It's 2018. Who still smokes? Honestly, when's the last time you heard someone say "Oh hey look that person is smoking. They must be coooool!" The answer is never. You've never heard someone say that. Because smoking isn't cool. It smells god awful, it'll kill you, and it makes you look like you're living out some 1980's punk rock fantasy in 2018.

Vaping? Sure I guess. Better than smoking. From what I understand, it's less lethal for you, and at least it's trendy right now. Smoking hasn't been cool since before most of us were born.

I watched a Netflix special starring Dave Chappelle, and throughout the entire thing he's smoking on stage. A lot. I constantly found myself not paying attention to the jokes because I couldn't stand how disgusting it was every time he inhaled. I could almost smell it through my TV.

So, should Idaho raise the legal age to purchase tobacco to 21? For me, they should raise it to like 65. Hell, just ban it entirely. Spend the money on anti-smoking campaigns on anti-Tide Pod eating campaigns. That's where we're at in 2018.