The age to purchase tobacco in Kansas City, Kan., was raised to 21 on Nov. 19 by a 6-1 vote of the Unified Government Commission.
Formerly, the age was 18 to purchase tobacco products.
Mayor Mark Holland said it was a coordinated effort, and the city of Kansas City, Mo., also raised the age to purchase tobacco to 21 today. This was the Great American Smokeout Day.
Unified Government Commissioner Ann Murguia, who led the effort in Kansas City, Kan., to revise the age to purchase tobacco to 21, said she was excited about the change.
Commissioner Mike Kane opposed the change, saying “We’re to govern, not to dictate.” He doesn’t believe the government should tell people whether to smoke or not. Also, he said most of the email he received in favor of the change was from people who do not live in Wyandotte County. No one who lives here, other than the mayor, has told him they were in favor of the change, he said.
Called the “Tobacco 21” initiative, it makes a simple change to the UG’s ordinance, just changes the age of 18 to the age of 21 for purchase of tobacco including cigarettes, tobacco products and e-cigarettes, and also requiring retailers to post signs about the minimum age of 21.
Scott Hall, vice president for strategic initiatives of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, said more than 2,000 organizations in Greater Kansas City, including many in Kansas City, Kan., were in favor of this change.
It will prevent people from starting the tobacco habit early, leading to a lifetime of problems and death, he said.
Jon Stephens, executive director of the Kansas City, Kan., Area Chamber of Commerce, which approved Tobacco 21 in a unanimous vote, said there were more than 182 business organizations backing the change.
“We see tobacco use among young people turning into tobacco use by employees and their families,” Stephens said. “When private employers hire someone who smokes, it adds $5,816 in excess costs due to health care and absenteeism.
“By preventing young people from starting this habit, we can ensure a healthier work force and lower health care costs well into the future,” Stephens said. “To put it succinctly, this is an economic development, healthy work force and a vitality issue. Healthy communities will grow faster and stronger than those that are not. We believe Tobacco 21 is a step to make Kansas City, Kan., a destination for healthy living, and all of the Kansas City metro a destination for healthy living.”
Dr. Doug Girod, executive vice chancellor of the University of Kansas Medical Center, said, “Cigarettes are the only legal consumer product, that if used properly and as intended, will kill a third of the regular users.”
About 95 percent of current adult smokers started their smoking before the age of 21, and the data show that the earlier smokers start, the harder it is for them to stop, he said.
He has personally treated smokers for cancer and has noticed how hard it is to quit smoking, Even after surgery and chemotherapy, more than 50 percent of the patients continue to smoke, because it is hard to give it up, he said.
One out of every three smokers attempts to quit every year, and they fail, he said.
“The reason they fail is it’s such an intense nicotine addiction that starts when they’re teenagers,” Dr. Girod said. “We know that until we’re in our mid-20s, our brains continue to develop.”
Neurocircuits in the brain can be rewired and remodeled under the influence of nicotine, he said. Young people are under immense peer pressure and they pursue sensation-seeking, he said.
“That really creates the neurologic perfect storm, if you will, for teenagers for nicotine addiction,” he said.
“We’re facing a new epidemic at this point in time with e-cigarettes. Research suggests a very high rate of conversion from e-cigarettes to normal tobacco products,” Dr. Girod said.
A new generation will risk the potential of lifelong addiction to nicotine, he said.
“Tobacco 21 focuses on reducing exposure to nicotine during the critical period, between ages 16 and 21, when teens are most vulnerable to experimentation and to addiction,” he said.
Dr. Girod said there is far too much tobacco-related cancer, and hospitals will not be able to handle the cancers coming down the road. It’s in the best interest to prevent cancer, he said.
Rebecca Garza, the Tobacco Free Wyandotte coordinator of the Healthy Communities Division, Wyandotte County Health Department, said Needham, Mass., passed this law raising the minimum age to 21 and saw a 46 percent decrease in teen smoking. Educational efforts in surrounding communities saw only a 20 percent decrease, she said.
Because 80 percent of high school seniors are age 18 when they graduate, they are old enough to buy cigarettes and provide them to younger classmates and friends, she said. When the minimum age is raised to 21, it cuts off the social supply chain, she said.
She said the short-term effect on business owners is slight because only 2 percent of tobacco sales are attributed to younger populations.
Commissioner Kane remarked that people can serve and die in the military at age 18, but if they came to Kansas City, Kan., the soldiers could not buy cigarettes.
However, Garza said tobacco use undercuts military readiness, costing the military $1.6 billion annually in medical costs and lost work time.
The ordinance change does not say that 18-to-21-year-olds cannot smoke. It says they cannot buy tobacco products. The ordinance retains the provisions against selling tobacco, giving tobacco or distributing tobacco to anyone younger than 18.
The ordinance applies only to Kansas City, Kan., not to Edwardsville, Kan., or Bonner Springs.
Mayor Holland, who did not have to vote on this issue, supported raising the minimum age. He said the UG, which employs 2,200 people, spends about $28 million a year on health care, and would like to reduce its costs. He said he’d rather spend the money on employee raises than increases in health insurance.
He said raising the minimum age here sends a clear message to other communities in the metropolitan area to follow suit.
“Let’s eliminate teen smoking in the entire metro area,” he said.
To see an earlier story on this subject, visit https://wyandotteonline.com/age-to-purchase-tobacco-could-be-raised-to-21-in-kck-under-proposal/.