By Robert Preidt
HealthDay reporter
TUESDAY, April 27, 2021 (HealthDay News) – A new study shows that raising the legal age to buy tobacco is effective in reducing the rate of smoking among teenagers.
The researchers compared the smoking habits of teenagers and young adults before and three years after a 2016 California law that increased the legal age for tobacco sales from 18 to 21 years.
The University of California, Davis team found that the “T21” law resulted in greater reductions in daily smoking among 18-20 year olds than among 21-23 year olds.
“The good news is that the prevalence of ‘daily’ smoking among 18-20 year olds has increased from 2.2% in 2016 to near zero in 2019,” said study co-author Susan Stewart, Professor in the Department of Biostatistics in the Department of Public Health Sciences.
Non-daily smoking did not decrease.
“One possible reason that” daily “smoking has decreased but not” non-daily “smoking is that” daily “smokers are more likely to buy their own cigarettes – so they are more likely to be affected by sales restrictions,” Stewart said in one University press release.
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Also, according to the study, which was recently published in the journal Preventive Medicine, there has been no decrease in the rates of people who currently smoked or have ever smoked.
The researchers said possible reasons why there has not been a drop in all types of smoking behavior under the law, including: previous smoking drops across the country; Enforcement difficulties at state level; increased use of other products such as e-cigarettes and marijuana; Sales outside of retail stores; and other tobacco control measures.
“Most adult tobacco users start smoking cigarettes before the age of 18, when the brain is still developing and particularly prone to nicotine and addiction,” said study author Melanie Dove, an assistant professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management in the Department of Public Health Sciences.
“The new T21 bill has the potential to dramatically reduce the number of teens who start smoking regularly over time, so it’s important to track the effects,” Dove said in the press release.
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“Future studies should examine the role of e-cigarette use, policy enforcement, and online sales,” said study co-author Dr. Elisa Tong, internist and associate professor who leads smoking cessation initiatives at the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center.
More information
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is more concerned with youth tobacco prevention.
SOURCE: University of California, Davis, press release, April 23, 2021
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