No, this is NOT an April Fool's Day joke. New York State is now set to become the eighth (or ninth?) state to raise the age limit for tobacco and vaping products to 21. The legislature passed it, and Governor Cuomo is expected to sign it. If (really, when) he does, it will take effect in 120 days. Which is very, very soon.
Many counties and cities in the state, including NYC and most of its "backyard", already set the age limit at 21. That of course includes my home county of Westchester, which raised it from 18 to 21 last year.
The only silver lining is that the new age limit of 21, like the old age limit of 18, will only apply to vendors, as it will still not be illegal for "underage" people to possess or consume tobacco or vaping products. But that still does NOT mean we should support it one bit!
With the "bookend" states of California and New York now down, plus several other populous and not-so-populous states, not to mention hundreds of localities across the country, and even our nation's capital, is our movement lost for good? We sure hope not. It looked like the Tobacco 21 movement had stagnated last year, but now with New York, Utah, and possibly Washington State next to jump on the bandwagon, perhaps we got too complacent last year. It certainly does NOT bode well for any near-future attempt to lower the drinking and toking ages to 18!
Hindsight is 2020, both the year and the vision.
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Like I predicted, New York State and Virginia will raise the minimum age for smoking tobacco and vaping to 21. The movement to raise the smoking age to 21 has gone into vengeance mode ever since the media panic about vaping, shame on you, CNN.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, and now several other states are jumping on the Tobacco 21 bandwagon. All because of the mainstream media's moral panic over vaping. Ironically, CNN and other outlets gave JUUL the best free publicity they could have ever hoped for.
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