Increases the age to purchase tobacco products from 18 years old to 21 years old

Summary of provisions

Section 1: Subdivision 4 of section 1399-aa of the Public Health Law is amended by deleting the age of "eighteen" and replacing it with "twenty-one".

Section 2: Paragraphs (b), (c) and (f) of subdivision 2 of section 1399-bb of the Public Health Law are amended by removing "eighteen" and replacing it with "twenty-one".

Section 3: Subdivision 4 of section 1399-bb of the Public Health Law is amended by removing "eighteen" and replacing it with "twenty-one".

Section 4: Subdivisions 2, 3 and 7 of section 1399-cc of the Public Health Law are amended by removing "eighteen" and replacing it with "twenty-one".

Section 5: Subdivision (d) of Section 1399-dd of the Public Health Law is amended by removing "eighteen" and replacing it with "twenty-one".

Section 6: Subdivision 1 of Section 1399-ff of the Public Health Law is amended by deleting the word "minor" and replacing it with "person under twenty-one years of age".

Section 7: Paragraphs (b) and (c) of subdivision 2 of Section 1399-11 of the Public Health Law are amended by removing "eighteen" and replacing it with "twenty-one".

Section 8: Subdivision 1 of paragraphs (b) and (c) of subdivision 2 of Section 1399-mm of the Public Health Law is amended by removing "eighteen" and replacing it with "twenty-one".

Section 9: Subdivision 3 of section 260.21 of the Penal Law is amended by removing "eighteen" and replacing it with "twenty-one".

Section 10: Section 17-706 of the Administrative Code of the City of New York is amended by removing "eighteen" and replacing it with "twenty-one".

Section 11: Section 17-714 of the Administrative Code of the City of New York is amended by removing "eighteen" and replacing it with "twenty-one".

Justification

Every year in New York, fifty-three thousand youth under the age of eighteen become regular smokers. Many of them tried their first cigarette before they entered high school. Three hundred eighty nine thousand youth under the age of eighteen in New York will ultimately die prematurely from smoking. Of the many youth who become regular smokers, half of them will eventually die from smoking related disease. They will suffer from cancer, emphysema, heart disease, asthma, hypertension, and other ailments. New York spends over $8 billion caring for people made sick from smoking and New York residents' State and Federal tax burden from smoking caused healthcare expenditures is approximately $900 per household.

The key to reducing the number of smokers in New York is to stop them before they start. Raising the smoking age to twenty one removes cigarettes from high schools and eliminates a popular source of tobacco from underage children.

The best way to reduce the number of citizens who smoke is to prevent initiation of tobacco use. A fairly short time passes between initiation and addiction, and most interventions miss this small window of opportunity. The majority of smokers sixteen years of age and younger are intermittent users; addictive smoking requiring regular purchased begins later, at a median age of seventeen. Raising the purchase age provides an opportunity to expose intermittent users to strong counter-marketing, and de-normalizing campaigns. Keeping youths tobacco free for a longer period of time allows such interventions to reach them before they become regular users.

Simply delaying tobacco use provides benefits. The earlier people begin to smoke, the higher their risk for contracting lung cancer and other health problems. Just being able to stop a small percentage of these youth from smoking will yield incredible savings in medical bills and lost work.

Because tobacco use persists among youth and adults, New York State must take further action. Preventing young adults from taking up smoking is critical because, according to the Surgeon General, 88% of adult smokers started the habit before age 18, and 90% of the people who purchase cigarettes for minors are between the ages of 18 and 20.

By raising the legal purchase age to twenty one, we will help prevent a generation of New Yorkers from becoming addicted to smoking and ultimately save thousands of lives. By delaying children and young adults access to tobacco products, we will reduce the likelihood they ever start smoking and therefore create a healthier state.

Prior legislative history

2013-14 - died in Health Committee in both Houses.

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after it shall have become a law.