Right: Ovens Valley tobacco farmers are wary of strangers, as some of the questions they ask are not about the lovely mountain surroundings, but about purchasing illegal tobacco, or 'chop chop'. (photo: Craig Sillitoe, The Age)
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Arguments in favour of the smoking age increasing to 21
1. Smoking is a dangerous activity that harms health and can result in death
In its 2014-5 report, the Australian Bureau of Statistics stated, 'Tobacco smoking is one of the largest preventable causes of death and disease in Australia. It is associated with an increased risk of a wide range of health conditions, including heart disease, diabetes, stroke, cancer, renal disease, eye disease and respiratory conditions such as asthma, emphysema and bronchitis. Tobacco was responsible for 7.8% of the total burden of disease and injury in Australia in 2003, equivalent to around 15,000 deaths per year, and was estimated to cost Australia $31.5 billion in social (including health) and economic costs in 2004-05.'
Similarly, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has stated, ' Tobacco use was estimated to be responsible for 9% of the total burden of disease and injury in Australia in 2011. It was estimated that 80% of lung cancer burden and 75% of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease burden was attributable to tobacco use.'
The Tasmanian Quit program has summarised the principal diseases that smoking can cause in smokers and its effect on their workforce participation and psychological wellbeing. 'Smoking causes a range of serious health problems, including cancer, heart disease, stroke, asthma, emphysema, vascular disease and damage to most body organs.
Smokers' health problems can impact on their work performance and affect productivity through more frequent sickness-related absences and multiple 'smoke breaks' while at work.
Despite common thinking that smoking is a stress reliever, research has found that it actually increases psychological distress while providing no medicinal benefits'
The Cancer Council of Australia's Internet site provides further information on the health risks associated with smoking. It states, 'Two of every three deaths in current long-term smokers can be directly attributed to smoking. Smoking causes an estimated 20% of the nation's cancer disease burden each year... Tobacco smoke contains more than 7000 chemicals, over 70 of which are known to cause cancer... Chemicals in tobacco will also affect people who are exposed to your cigarette smoke. Second-hand or passive smoking poses health risks to adults similar to active smoking, and has also been associated with sudden infant death syndrome and asthma in children.'
The Tasmanian Quit program has also stressed the harm which passive smoking causes non-smokers. Its Internet page notes, 'A report by the World Health Organisation has concluded that there is no safe level of exposure to environmental tobacco smoke.'
2. Smoking is addictive and most smokers want to stop
It has been argued that lifting the age for the legal consumption of tobacco to 21 is beneficial to potential smokers because it helps to prevent them from acquiring an addiction that in later life most will want to break free of.
The public health group Quit Cigarettes Australia has stated, ' Approximately 17% of the Australian population smoke every day and most smokers want to quit. According to statistics, more than 75% of smokers have tried to kick the habit at least once, and many have tried over and over again.'
Referring to the difficulty of giving up a cigarette habit, the Australian Drug Foundation has stated, ' Giving up tobacco after using it for a long time is challenging because the body has to get used to functioning without it. Withdrawal symptoms usually start within 2-3 hours after you last use tobacco. The symptoms may last from a few days to a few weeks. These symptoms can include: cravings for a cigarette; irritability, anxiety and depression; restless sleep; eating more and putting on weight; trouble concentrating; headaches; coughing and sore throat; aches and pains; upset stomach and bowels.'
In an opinion piece published in The Conversation on October 2, 2017, Mai Frandsen, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Tasmania noted, 'Quitting is hard - ask any smoker. Not only are the benefits, like other health behaviour changes, not immediate, but quitting smoking requires the smoker to go through a nasty period of withdrawal, while knowing the withdrawal symptoms could be immediately relieved by smoking.'
Detailing the addictive effects of nicotine, the United States National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has noted, ' Research has shown how nicotine acts on the brain to produce a number of effects. Of primary importance to its addictive nature are findings that nicotine activates reward pathways-the brain circuitry that regulates feelings of pleasure. A key brain chemical involved in mediating the desire to consume drugs is the neurotransmitter dopamine, and research has shown that nicotine increases levels of dopamine in the reward circuits. This reaction is similar to that seen with other drugs of abuse and is thought to underlie the pleasurable sensations experienced by many smokers. For many tobacco users, long-term brain changes induced by continued nicotine exposure result in addiction.'
Supporters of lifting the legal smoking age to 21 argue that if the onset age is delayed many potential smokers will not acquire the habit. It is claimed that this is significant because these potential smokes will be protected from an addictive behaviour which they may find very difficult to stop.
3. Most smokers begin smoking in childhood or adolescence
The importance of preventing early onset smoking is repeatedly stressed. Both Australian and overseas studies have demonstrated that a majority of smokers begin the habit while in either childhood or adolescence. It has been argued that if the establishment of the behaviour can be delayed then many will not begin at all.
The study ' Tobacco in Australia: Facts and issues,' released by the Cancer Council Victoria in 2016 states, ' Most adults who smoke started smoking when they were teenagers, therefore preventing tobacco use among young people is an integral part of ending the tobacco epidemic.'
Similar conclusions have been drawn in the United States. The United States Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids states, ' Lifetime smoking and other tobacco use almost always begins by the time kids graduate from high school. Young kids' na‹ve experimentation frequently develops into regular smoking, which typically turns into a strong addiction-well before the age of 18-that can overpower the most well-intentioned efforts to quit. Any efforts to decrease future tobacco use levels among high school students, college-aged youths or adults must include a focus on reducing experimentation and regular tobacco use among teenagers
and pre-teens...
According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, nearly 80 percent of all adult smokers begin smoking by age 18; and 90 percent do so before leaving their teens.'
Australian philanthropist and iron ore magnate Andrew Forrest has proposed lifting the legal smoking age to 21 in the hope that this will mean many potential smokers will simply never acquire the habit. Mr Forrest has stated, ' We need to stop fuelling big tobacco preying on our vulnerable youth. We know that once young people have hit 18, many will not have made up their minds to smoke or not.
Nearly 90 per cent of adult smokers start as children. By the time they reach 21, they are hooked and become lifelong customers of big tobacco.'
It has been claimed that young people are generally less well-informed and less risk averse and so are a vulnerable to taking up dangerous habits. In March 2017, Dr. Arandia, a pulmonologist at ManilaMed, Manila Medical Center in the Philippines, has noted that adolescents smoke because of peer pressure, stress, and the desire to feel older or more mature. Dr. Arandia has stated, 'By raising the legal smoking age to 21, we give impressionable teens a better chance of 'riding out' their more susceptible years so that by the time they can smoke legally, they are better informed, more mature, and less likely to make the decision to experiment with smoking.'
4. Lifting the smoking age disrupts the peer group through which cigarettes are distributed
It has been argued that lifting the legal smoking age to 21 would significantly reduce young people's access to cigarettes. One of the key reasons offered is that many young adolescent smokers obtain cigarettes from slightly older peers. 15 and 16 year old are likely to have overlapping friendship groups with 18 and 19 year olds and thus are easily able to acquire cigarettes from their slightly older friends who can legally consume them.
If the legal smoking age were raised to 21, this friendship group overlap would be far less likely to occur. 21 year olds do not normally socialise with 16, 17 or 18 year olds and so would not be passing cigarettes to their younger peers.
The United States Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids has stated, ' Research shows that kids often turn to older friends and classmates as sources of cigarettes. Increasing the tobacco age to 21 would reduce the likelihood that a high school student will be able to legally purchase tobacco products for other students and underage friends.'
United States public health authorities have modelled the delay in smoking initiation among under-age smokers likely to result from lifting the legal smoking age to 21.
In 2015 the United States Institutes of Medicine (IOM) released a report commissioned by FDA, that used modelling to conclude that increasing the age of purchase of tobacco products to 21 could decrease initiation rates among youth and young adults. The impact was greatest among 15-17 year olds with approximately a 25% decrease in initiation, but there was also a strong impact among 18 and 19-20 year olds, with approximately a 15% decrease in initiation rates for both age groups.
The IOM concluded 'Raising the MLA to 19 will...not have much of an effect on reducing the social sources of those in high school. Raising the MLA to 21 will mean that those who can legally obtain tobacco are less likely to be in the same social networks
as high school students.'
5. Lifting the legal smoking age would assist retailers in complying with smoking laws
It has been claimed that lifting the smoking age to 21 would encourage retailers to comply with the law. In Australia, several studies have reported the relative ease with which young people are currently able to purchase cigarettes despite the introduction of laws that make it illegal to sell tobacco products to those under 18.
It has been suggested that it would be far harder for retailers to claim that they have mistaken a customers' age if the legal smoking age were increased. A 16 or 17 year old is unlikely to be assumed to be 21 but might be assumed to be 18.
Currently Australian cigarette retailers are expected to require proof of age from any potential consumer they believe to be under age. There are, however, a variety of means whereby this monitoring of age can be circumvented. Young people have false identifications; while some retailers claim not to have released that the consumer was below the legal age and should have been subjected to an age check.
South Australia has recognised some of the deficiencies of the current monitoring process. Since 1999 the state has undertaken rounds of compliance testing of retailers. The South Australian legislation does not require the checking of proof of age as the only defence for selling tobacco products to a minor, as is the case in some other Australian states. The South Australian program includes a comprehensive retailer education and awareness raising campaign. Thus, a heavier onus is placed on the retailer. Sale is to be denied if the potential purchaser could reasonably be assumed to be under 18, even if he or she is carrying proof of age.
Supporters of this more rigorous attitude argue that lifting the legal smoking age to 21 would make it easier to implement laws restricting the sale of cigarettes. Age differences would be more obvious and a drivers' licence, held by many over 21 but somewhat fewer at 18, is a more reliable form of identification and proof of age. In New South Wales for example, in 2014, 82 percent of 21 year olds had a driver's licence. In South Australia, the figure in 2013, was 84 percent.