HLS 17RS-3480 ORIGINAL
2017 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 177
BY REPRESENTATIVE HOFFMANN
HEALTH/SMOKING: Requests the Louisiana Department of Health to study the
desirability and feasibility of increasing the minimum age to purchase tobacco
products to twenty-one
1 A RESOLUTION
2To urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health to study the desirability and
3 feasibility of increasing the minimum age to purchase tobacco products in Louisiana
4 to twenty-one.
5 WHEREAS, national data show the ages of eighteen to twenty-one are a critical
6period when many smokers move from experimental smoking to regular, daily use; and
7 WHEREAS, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, over eighty
8percent of adult smokers smoked their first cigarette before they turned eighteen, and
9ninety-five percent of adult smokers begin smoking before they turn twenty-one; and
10 WHEREAS, each day in the United States, more than three thousand two hundred
11youth aged eighteen years or younger smoke their first cigarette, and an additional two
12thousand one hundred youth and young adults become daily cigarette smokers; and
13 WHEREAS, the developing brains of young people are particularly susceptible to
14the addictive properties of nicotine, and tobacco industry documents show that those who
15start smoking by the age of eighteen are almost twice as likely to become lifetime smokers
16as those who start after they turn twenty-one; and
17 WHEREAS, increasing the tobacco sales age to twenty-one will help counter efforts
18to target young people at a critical time when many move from experimenting with tobacco
19to regular smoking; and
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HR NO. 177
1 WHEREAS, research shows that children and adolescents often turn to older friends
2and classmates as sources of cigarettes and raising the tobacco age to twenty-one would
3reduce the likelihood that a high school student will be able to legally purchase tobacco
4products for other students and underage friends; and
5 WHEREAS, electronic smoking device use among minors has recently tripled; and
6 WHEREAS, tobacco use is the foremost preventable cause of premature death in the
7United States; and
8 WHEREAS, tobacco use is responsible for approximately four hundred eighty
9thousand deaths a year and over twenty million premature deaths in the United States over
10the past fifty years since the first surgeon general's report on smoking in 1964; and
11 WHEREAS, a March 2015 report by the Institute of Medicine strongly concluded
12that raising the tobacco sale age to twenty-one will have a substantial positive impact on
13public health and save lives; and
14 WHEREAS, the study found that raising the tobacco sale age will significantly
15reduce the number of adolescents and young adults who start smoking, reduce
16smoking-caused deaths, and immediately improve the health of adolescents, young adults,
17and young mothers who would be deterred from smoking; and
18 WHEREAS, the study predicts that if the minimum age for the sale of tobacco
19products was raised to twenty-one, over time, the adult smoking rate would decline by about
20twelve percent and smoking-related deaths would decline by ten percent; and
21 WHEREAS, the Institute of Medicine also predicts that raising the minimum legal
22sales age for tobacco products to twenty-one nationwide would result in two hundred
23twenty-three thousand fewer premature deaths, fifty thousand fewer deaths from lung cancer,
24and four million two hundred thousand fewer years of life lost for those born between 2000
25and 2019, and that it would result in near immediate reductions in preterm birth, low birth
26weight, and sudden infant death syndrome; and
27 WHEREAS, in 2016, California became the second state in the United States, joining
28Hawaii, to raise the tobacco sale age to twenty-one; and
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HR NO. 177
1 WHEREAS, at least two hundred and twenty-five localities in sixteen states have
2also raised the tobacco age to twenty-one, including Washington D.C., San Francisco,
3Boston, New York City, Chicago, Cleveland, and both Kansas cities; and
4 WHEREAS, statewide legislation to do so is also being considered in several other
5states; and
6 WHEREAS, three-quarters of adults in the United States favor raising the minimum
7legal sale age for tobacco products to twenty-one, including seven in ten smokers; and
8 WHEREAS, the annual economic impact of smoking in the United States is more
9than three hundred billion dollars in healthcare and lost worker productivity costs; and
10 WHEREAS, the retail impact of ordinances mandating a minimum legal sales age
11of twenty-one for tobacco products is minimal, with an estimated decrease of only two
12percent; and
13 WHEREAS, raising the legal drinking age to twenty-one led to reduced alcohol use
14and dependence among youth, and contributed to a decline in drunk driving fatalities.
15 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
16Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health
17to study the desirability and feasibility of increasing the minimum age to purchase tobacco
18products in Louisiana to twenty-one.
19 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the department shall develop findings and
20recommendations concerning the desirability and feasibility of increasing the minimum age
21to purchase tobacco products to twenty-one, and shall submit such findings and
22recommendations in the form of a written report to the House Committee on Health and
23Welfare no later than thirty days prior to the convening of the 2018 Regular Session of the
24Legislature.
25 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
26secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health.
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HR NO. 177
DIGEST
The digest printed below was prepared by House Legislative Services. It constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument. The keyword, one-liner, abstract, and digest do not constitute
part of the law or proof or indicia of legislative intent. [R.S. 1:13(B) and 24:177(E)]
HR 177 Original 2017 Regular Session Hoffmann
Requests the La. Dept. of Health to study the desirability and feasibility of increasing the
minimum age to purchase tobacco products to 21.
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