ENROLLED
2017 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 177
BY REPRESENTATIVE HOFFMANN
A RESOLUTION
To urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health to study the desirability and
feasibility of increasing the minimum age to purchase tobacco products in Louisiana
to twenty-one.
WHEREAS, national data show the ages of eighteen to twenty-one are a critical
period when many smokers move from experimental smoking to regular, daily use; and
WHEREAS, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, over eighty
percent of adult smokers smoked their first cigarette before they turned eighteen, and
ninety-five percent of adult smokers begin smoking before they turn twenty-one; and
WHEREAS, each day in the United States, more than three thousand two hundred
youth aged eighteen years or younger smoke their first cigarette, and an additional two
thousand one hundred youth and young adults become daily cigarette smokers; and
WHEREAS, the developing brains of young people are particularly susceptible to
the addictive properties of nicotine, and tobacco industry documents show that those who
start smoking by the age of eighteen are almost twice as likely to become lifetime smokers
as those who start after they turn twenty-one; and
WHEREAS, increasing the tobacco sales age to twenty-one will help counter efforts
to target young people at a critical time when many move from experimenting with tobacco
to regular smoking; and
WHEREAS, research shows that children and adolescents often turn to older friends
and classmates as sources of cigarettes and raising the tobacco age to twenty-one would
reduce the likelihood that a high school student will be able to legally purchase tobacco
products for other students and underage friends; and
Page 1 of 3 HR NO. 177 ENROLLED
WHEREAS, electronic smoking device use among minors has recently tripled; and
WHEREAS, tobacco use is the foremost preventable cause of premature death in the
United States; and
WHEREAS, tobacco use is responsible for approximately four hundred eighty
thousand deaths a year and over twenty million premature deaths in the United States over
the past fifty years since the first surgeon general's report on smoking in 1964; and
WHEREAS, a March 2015 report by the Institute of Medicine strongly concluded
that raising the tobacco sale age to twenty-one will have a substantial positive impact on
public health and save lives; and
WHEREAS, the study found that raising the tobacco sale age will significantly
reduce the number of adolescents and young adults who start smoking, reduce
smoking-caused deaths, and immediately improve the health of adolescents, young adults,
and young mothers who would be deterred from smoking; and
WHEREAS, the study predicts that if the minimum age for the sale of tobacco
products was raised to twenty-one, over time, the adult smoking rate would decline by about
twelve percent and smoking-related deaths would decline by ten percent; and
WHEREAS, the Institute of Medicine also predicts that raising the minimum legal
sales age for tobacco products to twenty-one nationwide would result in two hundred
twenty-three thousand fewer premature deaths, fifty thousand fewer deaths from lung cancer,
and four million two hundred thousand fewer years of life lost for those born between 2000
and 2019, and that it would result in near immediate reductions in preterm birth, low birth
weight, and sudden infant death syndrome; and
WHEREAS, in 2016, California became the second state in the United States, joining
Hawaii, to raise the tobacco sale age to twenty-one; and
WHEREAS, at least two hundred and twenty-five localities in sixteen states have
also raised the tobacco age to twenty-one, including Washington D.C., San Francisco,
Boston, New York City, Chicago, Cleveland, and both Kansas cities; and
WHEREAS, statewide legislation to do so is also being considered in several other
states; and
WHEREAS, three-quarters of adults in the United States favor raising the minimum
legal sale age for tobacco products to twenty-one, including seven in ten smokers; and
Page 2 of 3 HR NO. 177 ENROLLED
WHEREAS, the annual economic impact of smoking in the United States is more
than three hundred billion dollars in healthcare and lost worker productivity costs; and
WHEREAS, the retail impact of ordinances mandating a minimum legal sales age
of twenty-one for tobacco products is minimal, with an estimated decrease of only two
percent; and
WHEREAS, raising the legal drinking age to twenty-one led to reduced alcohol use
and dependence among youth, and contributed to a decline in drunk driving fatalities.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge and request the Louisiana Department of Health
to study the desirability and feasibility of increasing the minimum age to purchase tobacco
products in Louisiana to twenty-one.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the department shall develop findings and
recommendations concerning the desirability and feasibility of increasing the minimum age
to purchase tobacco products to twenty-one, and shall submit such findings and
recommendations in the form of a written report to the House Committee on Health and
Welfare no later than thirty days prior to the convening of the 2018 Regular Session of the
Legislature.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Page 3 of 3