Over two thirds of Americans, as well as most of smokers, show support to increase the lawful age to buy tobacco products from 18 to 21, as outlined by a 2013 study.
A lot of cities countrywide, together with 30 towns in Massachusetts alone, the Big Island of Hawaii and New York City, have implemented regulations prohibiting sales to those under age 21 recently. As of January, 2015, that involves 49 cities in 7 states embracing 11.5 million people, based on an author of the new study.
McMillen, of the American Academy of Pediatrics and Mississippi State University in Starkville, and his coauthors made use of the 2013 outcomes from the yearly Social Climate Survey of Tobacco Control, which provided replies from more than 3,000 randomly chosen adults representative of the USA.
Participants selected a level of agreement with the affirmation "The age to buy tobacco products should be increased to 21." They also responded to questions about their own present and former smoking status.
A bit over 70% of older people backed or firmly backed increasing the tobacco buying age, together with 57% of present smokers. The majority of people, irrespective of smoking status, age, race, or sex backed the affirmation, in accordance with the results in Tobacco Control.
Over 69% of white participants backed the affirmation, as did 73% of Hispanic participants and 80% of black answerers.
Among smoking people, those who took smoking between age 18 and 20 were rather to uphold increasing the tobacco age. Only 14 people in the study were determined as current smokers under age 21, and merely one backed boosting the legal smoking age.
The legal age to purchase tobacco products is managed by states, not at the federal level.
Needham, Massachusetts lifted the age of tobacco products sale to 21 in 2005, and the resulting fall in teen smokers has been encouraging.
