Should Hawaii raise their smoking age to 21?
Out of control vaping makes Hawaii raise smoking age to 21
So what's everyone think of that? You can vote, sign legal documents and be drafted at age 18, but now you have to wait till you're 21 to catch a smoke in Hawaii. Is this a good idea? The start of a national trend? Should younger adults be made to wait till age 21 to smoke like they have to to drink or is this part of an ongoing trend of infantilizing young adults?
It should be raised to 21.
Side Score: 2
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It should remain at 18.
Side Score: 8
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We already have smoking bans in public places, plain packaging and warnings on alcohol to pregnant women, however, if we look at this from a health point of view and the evidence that cigarettes and alcohol cause the most conditions that require hospital bed stays then it could be argued that they should both suffer ever more restrictions. With regard to cigarettes, as legislation restricts where people can smoke it is not unreasonable to expect that at what age people are allowed to smoke will start to enter the equation. Slowly and surely smokers are being encouraged to quit and non-smokers are being discouraged from starting. Side: It should be raised to 21.
Supporting the previous argument, about people either being urged to stop smoking, or discouraged from starting it in the first place, research (dartmouth college) have shown that at the age of 18 most people are still not as mentally mature as people that are slightly older, and consequently are known for making the wrong decisions, ie in this case smoking. At this age, most young people are still not fully independent, and thus it stands to reason that this smoking age should be raised to another age where these individuals are a little more mature Another reason would be that smoking also affects people around the smoker, and consequently passive smoking is known to be more dangerous then normal smoking causing more problems for other people. So would it not be better to raise the smoking age to an age where the individual is both more aware of themselves and their surrounding environments Side: It should be raised to 21.
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If you are 18 and you want to smoke what is stopping you from asking your friend, parent, family member from getting you some? Let's raise the age so people will be discouraged, then we can arrest them for more money for the prison industrial complex! Yeah let's tell the government how to run peoples lives that's working real well with the drug war right now isn't it? Side: It should remain at 18.
My argument is that the age should remain at 18 because if you're old enough to vote, sign legal documents, own property, mange your own money and be held criminally liable for what you do, you should be old enough to make all your own choices, including what to put into your body. Side: It should remain at 18.
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