New York City Council to raise tobacco buying age to 21, includes E-Cigs

[Aurara]

Eh, sometimes the rush nicotine gives people overpowers how shitty their lungs feel when they smoke that cigarette.

[Ksandra]

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releas...-ifj070307.php

A new study published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine shows that 10 percent of youth who become hooked on cigarettes are addicted within two days of first inhaling from a cigarette

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0703171843.htm

Recent research has revealed that the nicotine from one cigarette is enough to saturate the nicotine receptors in the human brain. "Laboratory experiments confirm that nicotine alters the structure and function of the brain within a day of the very first dose. In humans, nicotine-induced alterations in the brain can trigger addiction with the first cigarette," commented Joseph R. DiFranza, MD, professor of family medicine & community health at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and leader of the UMMS research team.

http://www.healthline.com/health-blo...ecome-addicted

Some young people report loss of control of their smoking within a day or two of smoking their first cigarette.

Note: it would seem like teens get addicted this way more easily than adults, which is probably attributed to a few things: nicotine, dopamine levels in the brain, social addiction, etc.

[Tajin]

None of that is solved by making the legal age 21, nor is a 'step in the right direction'

[Callisto]

Correct, and I don't think 18 year olds are the ones that people are worried about getting addicted.

[Ksandra]

Correct, and I don't think 18 year olds are the ones that people are worried about getting addicted.

Could be they are worried that 18 year olds are supplying younger kids

[quannum]

I'm against the war on drugs.

[Callisto]

Could be they are worried that 18 year olds are supplying younger kids

Ah yes, well then making it so 21 year olds have to buy them will definitely stop that, just like it has with alcohol.

[Jaybar]

If you are 21 and hanging out with young highschoolers then there is a problem.

Unless you area drug dealer. Or family. Or live at home and dropped out of college.

[Ksandra]

Ah yes, well then making it so 21 year olds have to buy them will definitely stop that, just like it has with alcohol.

of course it won't stop it, but it may reduce it.

I am actually really curious to see the results of this. It'll be interesting to see what kind of effects it has.

[Krandor]

If you are 21 and hanging out with young highschoolers then there is a problem.

Unless you area drug dealer. Or family. Or live at home and dropped out of college.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qNqxDdDgu6...nfused-car.jpg

[Callisto]

of course it won't stop it, but it may reduce it.

I am actually really curious to see the results of this. It'll be interesting to see what kind of effects it has.

Probably the same as the large soda ban, everyone gets mayad with no real benefit.

[6souls]

This seems kind of stupid to me, at least relative to what Chicago is doing. Instead of changing the ages here, they just tax the absolute death out of tobacco(the amount of tax on a pack of cigarettes is around 200% the actual value of the pack itself), yes you end up with the same deal of citizens hating you trying to legislate their health, but at the very least for those who aren't going to quit either way you gain revenue from them.

New York has the highest cigarette tax in the country where as of May 2012 the "cheapest" (much cheaper if you're willing to smuggle them from Native American reservations) pack cost $11.90 (source). Their tax rate is 4.35% while Illinois' is 1.98%. Fuck, your cigarettes are cheaper than here in Minnesota where the tax is 2.6%. Personally I think marijuana should be legalized and cigarettes should be banned.

Tax information came from wiki - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigaret...ette_tax_rates

[Callisto]

That's nuts lol(ftr the bulk of the tax here is county which is $6+ on Cook, not state, it's like $10-11 downtown but like $6 down the street from me in another county), if they're already taxing that much and that's not deterring people, the age limit won't do crap.

[Cleverness]

As a NYC resident this will do nothing, little kids pay out the ass for someone to buy their pack of cigs for them if they wanna use it(because the price of a pack is outrageous already). All this means is they'll get someone else to do it, just like how teenagers can get their hands on liquor. Although I live in the ghetto so less kids are smoking cigs, most smoke weed.

Honestly not a big fan of this, smoking is getting demonized and I know WHY it is, yet alcohol is not touched or taxed out the ass in the same manner, and it can have the same damaging effects on people around you like smoking. Difference being 1 is a long term effect, and the other is a car plowing into you at high speeds for a short term effect. Of dead. And if the choice alcohol is too pricey, there are plenty of lower tier options that are super cheap and will get you fucked up also, unlike cigs. Ask anyone in college, or anyone who has had the displeasure of drinking SoCo.

[Cream Soda]

I think it's stupid, but at the same time, I don't care enough about it to get upset.

All I can offer the 18-20 year olds in NY is a "Sucks to be you"

[Tajin]

But CS, look at all the ramen you can buy by providing kids with smokes.

[Jaybar]

As a NYC resident this will do nothing, little kids pay out the ass for someone to buy their pack of cigs for them if they wanna use it(because the price of a pack is outrageous already). All this means is they'll get someone else to do it, just like how teenagers can get their hands on liquor. Although I live in the ghetto so less kids are smoking cigs, most smoke weed.

Honestly not a big fan of this, smoking is getting demonized and I know WHY it is, yet alcohol is not touched or taxed out the ass in the same manner, and it can have the same damaging effects on people around you like smoking. Difference being 1 is a long term effect, and the other is a car plowing into you at high speeds for a short term effect. Of dead. And if the choice alcohol is too pricey, there are plenty of lower tier options that are super cheap and will get you fucked up also, unlike cigs. Ask anyone in college, or anyone who has had the displeasure of drinking SoCo.

I'm not sure what you are concerned about - the demonizing or the taxing. For Chicago alcohol is taxed as well as cigarettes.

Spoiler: show

$0.29 per gallon of beer
$0.36 per gallon of liquor containing 14% or less alcohol by volume
$0.89 per gallon for liquor containing more than 14% and less than 20% of alcohol by volume
$2.68 per gallon containing 20% or more alcohol by volume

Source

$0.034 per cigarette or $0.68 per package of twenty cigarettes

Source

But as far as demonizing? Yea alcohol is practically cherished while smoking is looked down upon. One needs only look at the smoking ban in restaurants. That's not to say excessive alcohol consumption isn't being culled - it's just much harder.

[Andalusian girls]

I have mixed feelings on this. I am a non smoker but really haven't given 2 shits if someone smokes in public or not as long as its not around kids, especially young kids.

If I am, however, going to be forced to pay for your ass if you get lung or any other type of cancer due to your smoking then yah....stop it as much as we can.

can we outlaw fat people using this logic

i am tired of looking at them

and they by default win the armrest battle in movie theaters

[Ksandra]

One needs only look at the smoking ban in restaurants.

HUGE difference there, unless there is some abnormal amount of drunks being allowed to plow their cars right into the dining area.

I see Cleverness's point about the drunk driving. With that said though, there are laws to try and prevent people doing things that will hurt others while drunk (aka DWI). Which is no different than laws to try and prevent people from hurting others while smoking (banning in public places).

[Callisto]

I'm not sure what you are concerned about - the demonizing or the taxing. For Chicago alcohol is taxed as well as cigarettes.

Spoiler: show

$0.29 per gallon of beer
$0.36 per gallon of liquor containing 14% or less alcohol by volume
$0.89 per gallon for liquor containing more than 14% and less than 20% of alcohol by volume
$2.68 per gallon containing 20% or more alcohol by volume

Source

$0.034 per cigarette or $0.68 per package of twenty cigarettes

Source

But as far as demonizing? Yea alcohol is practically cherished while smoking is looked down upon. One needs only look at the smoking ban in restaurants. That's not to say excessive alcohol consumption isn't being culled - it's just much harder.

I was also incorrect about the Cook County rate, the rate I was looking at was rolling up federal/state/county/city. All combined it comes out to $0.21/pack less than NYC's