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Bill Would Raise Florida’s Smoking Age From 18 To 21
December 27, 2017
Rep. Lori Berman, a Lantana Democrat, intends to move forward with a bill seeking to raise the legal age for smoking in honor of the measure’s co-sponsor, Rep. Don Hahnfeldt, a Republican from The Villages who died of cancer on Sunday. “I was saddened to learn of Rep. Don Hahnfeldt’s passing,” Berman tweeted on Tuesday.
“I was honored to have worked with him on raising the tobacco purchase age to 21 and will pursue this important issue in his legacy.” Last week, Hahnfeldt and Berman filed a proposal (HB 1029) that would raise the legal age for smoking from 18 to 21.
In a press release issued with Berman, and Senate sponsor David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, Hahnfeldt said raising the legal age “will save a projected early loss of life of 270,000 young lives and $8.6 billion in health care costs, as well as $8.3 billion in productivity losses.”
Hahnfeldt, 73, was a first-term member of the House whose district includes Sumter and parts of Lake and Marion counties. He spent 32 years in the Navy, commanding two nuclear submarines and later serving as commander of the Pacific Fleet’s Strategic Submarine Squadron.
by The News Service of Florida
Comments
18 Responses to “Bill Would Raise Florida’s Smoking Age From 18 To 21”
yes smoking is bad for you but so is drinking.smoking doesnt cause you to get out on roads and kill people.they need to focus on that.if its so bad why do they keep selling it? if you can buy cigs.and beer why not sell pot to.pot smokers dont get on the road and kill people like a drunk driver.i quit cigs 2 yrs ago and yes i feel better.getting drunk everyday or smoking well its your choice to be stupied but if you can fight for your country you should be able to make your own choice.as for as vapor cigs with no nicotine is not as bad as tar and chemicals in cigs..just my opion.
While we’re trying to keep people healthy…we should also ban Mcdonalds..Burger King…Kentucky fried chicken …fried food pork and all sugary candies. We could pass a 5% tax for funding the new health police.
were gonna all die sooner or later. Or as a very wise man put it once :
Oh…and those Fat Lard biscuits granny makes….shoot, why don’t we just quit living if we’re not living
Mark 7:15 KJV
There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.
I second the comment from A & back that comment totally 100%.
REGARDING:
” How can you serve and die for your country but not have alcohol or smoke? All should be the same age. P-E-R-I-O-D!!!!!”
Just don’t let them serve and die until 21.
That aside, if we are going to treat people as adults, we should not say, “You’re an adult but…”
Rather, we should say, “You’re an adult AND we expect you to act like one.”
(Actuarilly, most still act like children until they’re 30 if single, 25 if married.)
Yes, smoking is bad for you.
Yes, drinking alcoholic beverages is bad for you.
Yes, doing dope is bad for you.
But as an adult, you should be allowed to act freely as long as you don’t hurt others and suffer the consequences or reap the benefits of your actions.
Maybe you need Big Brother to hold your hand. If so, work to raise the age of adulthood to 30.
David for grownups and children
and deciding the difference
Based on the statistics being cited almost everywhere regarding how much damage a cigarette does, I would think it makes more sense to ban tobacco sales altogether. And while we’re banning things, can somebody please ban that ridiculous e-cigarette vapor thing?
Healthcare costs are the focal point when the topic of smoking is addressed. How many deaths, surgeries and illnesses can be attributed to obesity? How much do sexual diseases cost? How many babies are hospitalized for a large portion of their life because of alcohol? It seems as if many politicians no longer act on what is right but what is most popular and that solves nothing.
Waste of time. That ship has sailed.
When I was a teen smoker.. I just got someone to buy for me.
If they can fight in war , they can smoke.
I gave up the nasty habit on my own
All the dangers of smoking is/are presently known
How about regulating all the smoking in movies watched by the under 21 set?
I hate cigarettes, but if you are old enough to go to war, you are old enough to decide weather or not to smoke or drink.
just leave the age alone but raise the taxes to make them about 15 dollars a pack that would probably cut new potential smokers by 90%
This is a stupid bill and just wrong. 1st. The legal drinking age should be lowered to 18 not 21. How can you serve and die for your country but not have alcohol or smoke? All should be the same age. P-E-R-I-O-D!!!!!
just my opinion though
Old enough to fight for your country or walk a post in a prison or ride a patrol… Not old enough to decide if you want a smoke? Stop acting like any of you have a moral obligation to help others. Especially young people. Let them make their own decisions. Focus your energy on homeless veterans and children in unsafe homes with crappy parents. This is a waste of time and money meant to grab headlines for elected officials.
Isn’t this just delaying the inevitable?
I think the age should be raised to 70.
As a former teen smoker; I approve of this bill. It doesn’t solve the entire problem, but it’s a move in the right direction. IMO.
I see young people smoking and wonder why. We know it’s bad for us. Add other tobacco product such as snuff and chewing tobacco that cause damage to the mouth and stomach. I used tobacco products years ago and went cold turkey to stop—it was hard but I don’t smell like an ash tray any more. The real question is what will replace the tax money that is connected to tobacco sales.I guess we can all just cough up more in taxes (I know it’s a bad pun) to cover the lost income to the state.
Common sense legislation. How many 30, 40, 50+ year old smokers today, would have wished that this would have been the law back when they were young and stupid. Obviously, this proposed bill won’t stop some very determined teens and young adults, who believe that they are invincible from all of the long-term, ill effects of smoking- but, at least it will offer some degree of negative incentive, until they grow up a bit and begin making better decisions. For full disclosure, I was a naive, “stupid” teenage smoker for several years.
Oh, more nanny state initiatives. Let people smoke a cigarette if they want. I used to smoke cigarettes and could get them out of machines at 14ish. I wasn’t committing crimes nor harming anyone. It wasn’t costing anyone anything.
How about doing more work to punish drunk drivers..nobody ever died because someone was smoking and driving…I worry way more about drunks on the road than 18 year old smokers…