Smoking kills.
What was once a subject of debate and tobacco-industry obfuscation is now a matter of accepted medical fact: that the use of tobacco products will likely reduce the quality and duration of your life.
Another tobacco fact that the same industry would prefer we forget is that the vast majority of lifelong smokers pick up their habit before they turn 21. In fact, by some estimates, 90 percent of adult cigarette users began smoking by the time they were 18.
Next year, Dennis voters will consider whether to follow Yarmouth and bump the minimum age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21.
The town of Needham, the first in the commonwealth to raise the minimum purchase age for tobacco products, now has some data to back up the theory that such efforts would yield positive results. The age boost went into effect in 2005, and today the adult smoking rate in the town is 8 percent, less than half the statewide average.
Today, there are 34 towns in the state with a minimum purchase age of 21, and four others where a would-be buyer must be at least 19. (Westminster, a town in northern Worcester County, has proposed banning tobacco sales altogether.)
Proponents of the age change note that there is a ripple effect when older teenagers are able to purchase tobacco products. Many 18-year-olds are still in high school, and can therefore purchase and provide such products for their younger friends. Raising the age limit to 21 will not completely eliminate the trickle-down effect, but it will likely reduce it.
Some store owners would likely decry the change, and not without reason; cigarette sales can be an important part of a merchant’s overall sales. Further, any effort to regulate the sale of tobacco products would require additional training for store staff members, along with the associated regulations and potential penalties.
Several Yarmouth shops fought the regulations in that town while they were still in the draft stage, although town officials say that since the measure passed, most businesses have been very cooperative.
There is little doubt that the short-term costs for businesses are real, but so too are the long-term costs associated with smoking. These costs, however, are not just measured in dollars. They are measured in incidences of lung cancer, emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD); they are measured in more frequent illness, lost productivity, reduced quality of life and shorter lifespans.
Consider that lung cancer alone accounts for $12.1 billion of total cancer care costs in the U.S. and $36.1 billion in lost productivity. However, according to WalletHub, a social media network, Massachusetts in No. 1 in the country in banning smoking in public places. It also ranks high in the number of adult tobacco users per capita and average in death rate from lung cancer. The commonwealth also is home to top-rated hospitals for cancer care. (To see the full report, go to http://wallethub.com/edu/best-worst-states-at-combating-the-high-cost-of-lung-cancer/8158/)
More than a decade ago, Cape towns sought to ban smoking in public restaurants and other businesses. Today, they again have an opportunity to do the responsible thing and help reduce the number of potential smokers before they start.
Although Dennis should unquestionably emulate its western neighbor, what is really needed is a state law that raises the minimum tobacco-purchasing age to 21. To do so would be an acknowledgment that we should be doing all we can to keep tobacco companies from getting their addictive and lethal claws into the lungs and wallets of our teenagers.