Five to 10 years from now, the state Attorney General’s Office hopes to have a much different conversation about Big Tobacco and the legal smoking age.
“This is only going to go in one direction. More and more states are going to move to 21. We can either be at the front of that or the back end. It’s up to the Legislature, but I think that movement is happening,” Attorney General Bob Ferguson said Tuesday during an editorial board meeting with The Columbian.
Ferguson’s office for the second consecutive year requested a measure to raise the minimum age to buy tobacco and vapor products from 18 to 21. The bill passed a House Health Care Committee this legislative session, garnering more bipartisan support than in previous sessions. However, the measure failed to become law in the 2016 legislative session.
“It’s one of those bills where if we can get it to the bloody floors for a vote, it will pass overwhelmingly,” Ferguson said.
Although it seems like an uphill battle, Ferguson said he was encouraged to see a dramatic increase in sponsors from both sides of the aisle last session.
Opposition came from the House’s Democratic leadership and Senate’s Republican leadership.
One argument Ferguson heard is the financial impact the change would have on the state’s general fund.
“If you raise the smoking age, fewer teenagers will be buying cigarettes, (which is a) good thing,” he said. “Is the Legislature really balancing their budget on the backs of teenage smokers? Look, the candid answer is yes.”
The state’s general fund would lose more than $10 million annually in sales of tobacco products if the sales age were to increase to 21, according to a Department of Revenue fiscal note summary.
“Many parts about that are frustrating. One, is just morally, is that how we are really doing it? Ferguson said. “But beyond that, (the Legislature) saying, ‘But hey, it’s the money. It’s $10 million bucks.’ What’s infuriating about that is the AG’s office delivers a check to the Legislature every year for many, many millions of dollars directly because of our work taking on Big Tobacco.
“In other words, they don’t have to look very hard to find the money. We give it to them in the form of a check from Big Tobacco every freaking year, excuse my language,” he said, as he slammed his fist down on the table.
Results from the 2014 Healthy Youth Survey show that 10 percent of Clark County 10th-graders and 15 percent of 12th-graders reported smoking cigarettes in the previous 30 days. About 4 percent of 10th-graders and 6 percent of 12th-graders reported using smokeless tobacco products. The anonymous survey also shows that nearly a quarter of high school seniors used vaping devices, as did 21 percent of 10th-graders.
Ferguson said internal documents he’s seen from Big Tobacco mention how raising the legal smoking age would gut tobacco companies’ key demographic.
“So it is frustrating, you know. I want to be respectful to the Legislature, but honestly. The bill is going to save lives. I don’t know what more important thing they have on their agenda,” he said.
The other argument he heard in opposing the bill is “if you’re old enough to fight and die for your country, you should be able to have a cigarette.”
“That’s an argument at the least I can get my mind around. That’s an argument I can respect. I do disagree with it strongly, for a couple of reasons,” Ferguson said.
If the law were to pass, it doesn’t apply to military bases.
“No. 2: Hey, the drinking age is 21. To smoke marijuana, you got to be 21. I don’t see any legislators proposing that we make those laws rolled back to 18. It’s pretty clear cigarettes are far more damaging for one’s health than either of those products and far more addictive, as well,” he argued.
Hawaii was the first state to change its legal smoking age to 21. California recently passed a bill, Ferguson said, but it is awaiting the governor’s signature.
“The results speak for themselves. The jurisdictions that move to 21, they see the drop in teenage smoking. On the financial costs, yes, one can argue maybe there’s a short term hit but long term is there any doubt in terms of the savings for all of us?” Ferguson said. “Every household in Washington state pays more than $800 bucks in taxes for health-related impacts of smoking, even if you’re a non-smoking household. The long term impacts will only be positive.”
