Ninety-five percent of smokers first lit a cigarette before celebrating their 21st birthday. And research shows most young people who make it to age 21 without smoking will never pick up the habit.
Cancer advocates, state health officials and the attorney general hope proposed legislation that would increase the legal age to purchase tobacco and vaping products to 21 will mean more youth will reach that milestone smoke-free.
“Raising the minimum legal age for the sale of tobacco and vaping products to 21 is the single most important policy we could adopt to protect the health of our kids and prevent unnecessary premature deaths,” Sec. of Health John Wiesman said during a Feb. 1 Senate Labor and Commerce Committee public hearing.
The state Attorney General’s Office and Department of Health requested legislation to raise the legal age to purchase tobacco and vapor products from 18 to 21. Rep. Paul Harris, R-Vancouver, sponsored House Bill 1054 last year. Sen. Mark Miloscia, R-Federal Way, sponsored its companion, Senate Bill 5025, three years ago. A similar bill was introduced in the Senate this year — Senate Bill 6048 — by Sen. Patty Kuderer, D-Bellevue.
While the bills stalled in past years, Attorney General Bob Ferguson is optimistic about the progress the legislation is making this year.
In the past, the fiscal impact to the state budget has been an obstacle, Ferguson told The Columbian editorial board on Jan. 31. Revised budget numbers, however, show the impact to be $2.6 million for this biennium — much lower than previous, double-digit estimates. Those lower numbers seem to be earning the bills more supporters.
But the longer it takes for the bills to move through the legislative process, the more time it gives lobbyists opposing the issue to sway the outcome, Harris said.
“The longer it sits, the sooner it brings in the tobacco people,” he said.
Harris thinks his bill will pass the House; the success of the Senate bill is less clear, he said.
If the bills pass, Washington would become the sixth state to raise the age to 21, joining California, Hawaii, Oregon, New Jersey and Maine. More than 200 local jurisdictions across the country have also raised the age.
“Sometimes we must do the right thing,” said Rep. Sharon Wylie, D-Vancouver, during a House Finance Committee meeting Jan. 23. “This is not about criminalizing young people that are already smoking, it’s about easing away from a bad habit that people regret later.”
‘A deadly product’
A 2015 Institute of Medicine report found that raising the age for tobacco sales to 21 nationwide would make the biggest impact among 15- to 17-year-olds. While it’s already illegal for those teens to purchase tobacco products, many high-schoolers have peers who are 18 and can buy the products for them.
“You are less likely to know someone who is 21 or to have them in your same circle at school,” said Noe Baker, with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. “It’s just about making it harder for teens to access this.”
While the law change wouldn’t apply to tribal lands or military bases, Wiesman said he’s ready to ask Gov. Jay Inslee to approach tribes about honoring the change on their lands, should the bills pass. And in other places where the minimum age has been raised to 21, military bases have adopted the laws of those jurisdictions, Wiesman said.
Jennifer Kampsula Wong’s dad, Bruno Kampsula, started smoking after enlisting in the military as a teenager. The Vancouver woman was 20 years old when her dad’s tobacco use took his life. He died in 1993 from respiratory disease and heart disease. Tobacco was also listed as a cause of death on his death certificate.
“It was all brought on by smoking,” Kampsula Wong said. “The last thing you want to see is your father pass away, and it’s something that could have been prevented if he wasn’t addicted to tobacco.”
Kampsula Wong started volunteering with the American Cancer Society soon after her father’s death. She visited lawmakers last month, urging them to pass the bills to raise the age to purchase tobacco.
“There’s really no redeemable quality to tobacco. It’s a deadly product,” Kampsula Wong said. “That should be enough of a wake-up call that we do something to protect our kids.”
Columbian reporter Jake Thomas contributed to this article.
