Proposed legislation would raise Idaho’s legal smoking age to 21

An Idaho senator is hoping to snuff out long-term smoking in adults by raising the state’s legal smoking age from 18 to 21.

“I feel very strongly about this,” said Sen. Fred Martin, R-Boise.

To support his proposal, Martin pointed to research from the campaign to support his proposal. Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, which says about 95 percent of adult smokers begin smoking before they turn 21. It says 400 kids younger than 18 become regular smokers each day. One-third of them will die from smoking-related illnesses.

Martin hopes Senate Bill 1106 will pass, resulting in fewer people becoming life-long smokers.

“We upped the age to 21 for alcohol,” said Martin. “We decided that had a positive social effect on our society to do so, I think this is the next thing we need to look at.”

According to research, smoking is the leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States. According to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, smoking leads to the deaths of some 480,000 Americans every year.

“Smoking in general is not healthy, in any form,” said Dr. David Hill of Idaho Falls.

While he agrees more needs to be done to reduce the number of smokers, Dr. Hill doesn’t know if Senate Bill 1106 will go far enough in stopping the growing number of smokers.

“Those are the people who are really susceptible to being life-long addicts so, when we kind of increase the age someone gets their first experience of tobacco, they’re less likely to be life-long addicts,” said Hill

He’s been serving on the state’s Millennium Fund committee, which directs proceeds from a nationwide tobacco settlement to health-related programs, including “spending millions of dollars to encourage young people” not to smoke. Martin said he’s started to wonder about “diminishing returns.”

The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids supports increasing the smoking age to 21, as does the Institute of Medicine. In a report from last month, the groups said an increased age would reduce the number of adolescents and young adults who start smoking, would reduce smoking caused deaths and would improve the health of young adult sand young mothers.

To date, two states, California and Hawaii, and 215 different counties or cities nationwide have a 21 and up law.

A hearing is scheduled on Sen. Martin’s bill for Friday in room WW55 at the statehouse. It will begin at 8 a.m.