Raising the legal smoking age from 18 to 21

¶ … Legal Age for Smoking

Today, the legal age for buying cigarettes is 18, but it should be raised to the age of 21, because smoking is dangerous, especially to young people who develop smoking habits early, and 18 is still too young to drink, so it should be too young to smoke, as well.

Smoking is a known dangerous activity. Young people seem to think smoking is glamorous, but in reality, it is deadly, and it can kill after enough years of smoking. The younger a person starts smoking, the more likely they are to continue through life, and this is a death sentence for many people. Smoking has more of an effect on young bodies that are still maturing, and so, smoking should not be legal for anyone under 21, just as drinking is not legal until the age of 21. They are both dangerous activities and should be undertaken by adults, rather than children.

Everyone knows that many young people have fake IDs, and they use them to buy cigarettes. Many people have seen this occur. Young people could certainly obtain fake IDs to buy cigarettes if the age limit was raised, but it would still curtail even younger people from smoking, because many young people do not look anywhere near the age of 21, and could not pass for that age on a fake ID, making it more difficult for them to obtain cigarettes, which is another compelling argument for raising the legal age to 21.

In addition, smoking is addictive, and the earlier a person starts, the more likely they are to continue, making it more difficult to quit as one ages. Young people do not understand smoking, because they tend to have an "it will not happen to me" mentality, and it should not be available to teens, you should have to be an adult to make the choice to smoke, because it is a health choice, as well as a lifestyle choice.