It’s a safe bet that most who use nicotine products wish they could turn back the clock and never have taken that first puff or pinch.
The younger you are, the easier it is to get hooked.
Whether smoked or chewed, tobacco is nasty stuff, causing bad breath, hacking coughs and stained teeth.
And as if that weren’t bad enough, it poses great danger to your health as a major contributor to lung and heart disease and all sorts of cancers. On average, using tobacco shortens one’s lifespan by 14 years. Hands down, using tobacco is the No. 1 preventable cause of death in the United States.
So, if as a community we had the opportunity to reduce the number of users, would we?
We’ll know Monday night.
That’s when Iola council members will consider a proposal to raise the legal age for buying tobacco products from 18 to 21.
PASSING such a measure would put Iola in league with a fast-growing number of progressive-minded communities, including Kansas City and Independence, Mo.
Clear back in 2005, Needham, Mass., was the first U.S. city to pass such legislation. Other Massachusetts communities soon followed suit. Now the Massachusetts legislature is considering making it state law. Hawaii did so as of the first of the year.
Targeting the 18 to 21 age group is critical for two reasons.
First, it’s legal to use tobacco beginning at age 18.
Second, the younger a person starts smoking or chewing tobacco, the more susceptible he is to becoming addicted. That’s the way our bodies are wired.
In the 10 years since the aforementioned Needham enforced such a law, the smoking rate among its high school students has dropped from almost 13 percent of students to 5.5 percent.
In Allen County, almost 25 percent adults use tobacco, exceeding the state average. Clearly we need to do something to address this public health hazard.
By voting to raise the legal age for buying tobacco products, our city council members would be taking decisive action to improve our community’s quality of life.
That’s leadership.
— Susan Lynn
