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Action on Smoking and Health
A National Legal-Action Antismoking Organization Entirely Supported by Tax-Deductible Contributions
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Suffolk County, NY Raises Legal Age to Purchase Cigarettes to 19 [12/08-1]
Excerpts from: Lawmakers raise smoking age to 19
BY CHRISTIAN MURRAY Newsday [12/08/04]
Suffolk lawmakers Tuesday voted unanimously to raise the minimum age for buying cigarettes from 18 to 19, but County Executive Steve Levy stopped short of endorsing the measure.
After the 18-0 vote during a meeting of the legislature in Riverhead, Levy said he was "leaning toward" signing the measure into law. "I can't ignore how raising the drinking age had a profound effect on saving lives," Levy said.
Sponsor Legis. Brian Foley (D-Blue Point) Tuesday predicted the measure would almost certainly command the 12 votes necessary to override a Levy veto. "Today we have made a stand," Foley said.
Sponsors of a similar measure to raise the minimum age from 18 to 19 in Nassau County said they hope to capitalize on the Suffolk vote.
"Suffolk's passing of the bill will help our cause," said Nassau County Legis. Diane Yatauro (D-Glen Cove), who is sponsoring the measure along with Legis. Jeffrey Toback (D-Oceanside), chairman of the health committee. So far, six of Nassau County's 19 legislators have come forward to support the bill.
Officials for the New York State Department of Health said it is legal for counties to impose stricter tobacco laws than those mandated by the state.
Jamie Drogi, spokeswoman for Richmond, Va.-based Philip Morris USA, one of the world's largest tobacco sellers, has said that the company wouldn't oppose the measure because setting age limits should be left up to the public. Drogi said the cigarette industry would cover retailers' cost of new signage associated with enforcing the measure.
Three states -- Alaska, Utah and Alabama -- have raised the age from 18 to 19. In each of those states the rate of teenage smoking has dropped in the past five years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In Alabama, the smoking age was raised in 1999 at a time when 37 percent of Alabama high-school students smoked at least one cigarette per month. In 2003, it dropped to 23.7 percent.
"Research has shown that by raising the age from 18 to 19, we will be curbing access to tobacco for teenagers," Foley said. "This will keep them out of the hands of 18-year-old high school students who pass them on to younger students."
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