Should Kansas City raise the legal age for purchasing cigs?

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Rather quietly, the push to raise the legal age for purchasing cigarettes — from 18 to 21 years old — has gained traction in the United States. A study published earlier this year by the Institute of Medicine 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, as well as their children.”

This summer, Hawaii became the first state to pass such a law. About 100 other U.S. municipalities now have similar ordinances on the books, including New York City and Santa Clara, CA. Closer to KC, Columbia, Missouri raised the age this past December. These cities point to the success of Needham, Massachusetts, which saw a 46 percent drop in smoking in the first five years after passing such a law. 

Missouri has the lowest cigarette tax rate in the nation, at just 17 cents per pack. Since cigarettes are terrible for you, it would seem to make sense for Missouri to tax them more, and direct that new tax revenue to things like health and education. But that has proven surprisingly difficult.  

Perhaps it’s best, then, to try to reform smoking at the municipal level, and to do so before special interest groups persuade the Missouri legislature to enact a law forbidding municipalities from passing new smoking-related ordinances, as recently occurred when KC tried to raise the minimum wage. 

Today, momentum for the cause of raising the cig-purchasing age ramped up with the announcement of the Tobacco 21 KC campaign, a coalition that includes the Greater KC Chamber of Commerce, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City, and 100 other partners. 

The group has set up an online petition seeking to get the ball rolling on convincing KC leaders to get behind the idea. You can sign it/view it here.