Americans Favor Raising Legal Smoking Age From 18 to 21

Most Americans, including frequent smokers, support raising the legal smoking age from 18 to 21, according to a study conducted by researchers at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine on July 7, revealed that one third of American adults, including seven out of ten smokers, favor raising the age required to buy any type of tobacco product.

The Columbian Blogs reports that 70 percent of current smokers, 75 percent of participants who quit smoking and 78 percent of people who have never smoked, supported raising the legal smoking age, according to the survey.

Meanwhile, WSB Radio reports that only 11 percent of adults who took the survey strongly opposed raising the minimum smoking age to 21, while 14 percent of respondents only somewhat opposed it.

Dr. Brian King, acting deputy director for research translation in the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health, adds that support for raising the smoking age is consistent in all social groups, including income, region, sex, race, ethnicity and educational background.

According to Dr. King, there are several health benefits to raising the age Americans can buy tobacco products.

"It could delay the age of first experimenting with tobacco, reducing the likelihood of transitioning to regular use and increasing the likelihood that those who do become regular users can quit," he explains on MSN.

In fact, a report by the Institute of Medicine predicts that if the age limit for purchasing tobacco products was raised to 21, cigarette smoking in America would drop by 12 percent by the year 2100.

Furthermore, the report stated that the risk of dying prematurely due to smoke-related illnesses would reduce significantly for people born between 2000 and 2019.

Health states that there are already several cities and counties in America that have raised the legal smoking age to 21, according to the CDC. Hawaii raised the legal smoking age to 21 last June, and seems to be the only US state to do so.

Alabama, Alaska, New Jersey and Utah, meanwhile, have all raised the minimum age for smoking to 19.

Raising the minimum allowable age for smoking is expected to affect Americans who might be smoking other substances like e-cigarettes. 

Dr. King explains that while cigarette smoking has decreased in the United States, people are starting to turn to other products to satisfy their smoking needs.