Idaho rejects bill that would raise tobacco age limit to 21

The bill was sponsored by Sen. Fred Martin, R-Boise, and would place a restriction on sale and use of tobacco and vaping products. “I think this would have a very positive effect on Idaho,” said Martin. The senator had introduced a similar bill in 2017, but the State Affairs Committee had voted against it after witnessing a number of testimonies during a 90-minute public hearing.

This week the bill was rejected once again. Sen. Steve Vick, R-Dalton Gardens, said that if people are allowed to marry at 18 they should be able to make other life choices. “If it was as simple as passing a law to fix these problems, we’d probably have a lot more laws and a lot fewer problems,” Vick said. “Unfortunately my experience has shown that it just doesn’t work that way. … It does interfere with the ability of what we consider legal adults to make decisions.”

The importance to regulate relative to risks

On the other hand, despite agreeing that young adults should not have access to deadly cigarettes, public health experts have long been pointing out that placing e-cigarettes on the same shelf as regular cigarettes and regulating them in the same way, could prove detrimental to public health.

E-cigarettes are proven to be the most effective smoking cessation tools available to date, therefore it would make sense to have them available as smoking cessation aids for adolescents who are already struggling with a tobacco addiction.

Read Further: The Spokesman Review