Bill Expected to Be Voted On Which Would Raise Legal Age For Tobacco Use to 21
Several other states have changed their tobacco laws involving age, could Louisiana be next?
If a West Monroe Representative gets his way, we will see the legal age to use tobacco raised from 18 years old to 21 years old. Frank Hoffman's reasoning for sponsoring the bill is clear-cut and I, for one, can't fault the reasoning. He claims that many statistics show that smokers generally begin smoking before the age of 21. So the logic is that is the legal age is raised, many would-be smokers would simply never smoke at all.
He also claims that the decision would eventually grow to save a billion dollars in healthcare over the long haul.
Now, to play devil's advocate and interject my personal thoughts into this story, I'm a little on the fence here and I'll tell you why. It's, in a way, similar to my viewpoint of 18-year-olds being allowed into bars and nightclubs in Shreveport. My opinion on that is that an 18- year- old is an adult, by law, and therefore he/she is able to make their own decisions and also responsible for all of their own actions. Therefore, I believe they should be allowed access into bars and nightclubs.
I feel like if I didn't have the same thinking when it comes to tobacco use, I would be hypocritical.
Having said that, I do see the pros of enacting this law, and we will all have to wait and see what happens next if/when this bill gets taken to a vote.