Editor’s note: This commentary is by Harry Chen, M.D., the former commissioner of the Vermont Department of Health.
[A]s the former health commissioner for Vermont and a longtime emergency physician, I am passionate about public health. So you can understand how painful it is for me to see people willingly put their lives in danger. But that’s exactly what people do when they use tobacco products.
Most can’t help it. Addiction is a powerful scourge, and one that takes hold quickly, whether it’s opiates or nicotine. The key is to prevent access to those substances, which is why I fully support legislative efforts to raise the sale age of tobacco from 18 to 21.
The reasons are multiple. The vast majority (95 percent) of adult smokers started before they turned 21. The temptations for teens are real. Few are able to resist peer pressure. It’s easier to say, “Sure I’ll have one,” than risk being ostracized. But taking that first puff is the first step to addiction. Having raised three kids, I understand the power of peer pressure and how beneficial S.88 could be.
The current legal sale age of 18 makes it far too easy for younger teens to have access. Most know an 18-year-old high schooler who is willing to buy for, sell to, or just give them a cigarette. Raising the age limit to 21 reduces that likelihood.
The health of people should always come before profits and gain.
Â
Medically speaking, teenagers’ brains are not fully developed, which makes them much more susceptible to addiction than adults. We should be using every tool available to us to prevent addiction of any kind, be it tobacco, marijuana, alcohol or opiates.
I’ve served in the Vermont Legislature as a state representative for Mendon, Chittenden, Bridgewater and Killington. Everyone who comes to meet with legislators has an agenda. Sometimes it’s difficult to choose sides, especially when one interest might be offering to support your next campaign, or another might claim a financial disadvantage were the proposed legislation to pass.
But this should be an easy lift. The health of people should always come before profits and gain.
The tobacco industry spends an estimated 17 million dollars a year in Vermont to market its products and lure in more smokers. And they are successful. While only 11 percent of our high school students smoke, that number jumps to 18 percent for ages 18-24. It’s likely many are already addicted. Ten thousand Vermont kids alive today who are smoking will die prematurely.
Aside from the direct effects on smokers themselves, smoking has a dramatic impact on the state’s health care costs. Smoking costs us $348 million a year, including $87 million in Medicaid costs. And we’re not even talking about the costs related to factors like exposure to secondhand smoke. Most people would never guess that smoking kills more people than alcohol, car crashes, illegal drugs, AIDS, murders and suicides combined.
This bill is a sensible piece of legislation. Moreover, it’s the right thing to do. You see, it is really a matter of putting barriers in place when people are at their most vulnerable to addiction. Addiction is a chronic disease, but the good news is we can, and must, take action to curb it.