The younger the individual when they initially start smoking, the greater the possibility of addiction and becoming a lifelong smoker (King, 2015). Tobacco addiction is an issue the United States is struggling with, partially due to the fact that 90% of adult smokers began before or by the age of 18 (Ahmad, 2015). Researchers believe that since younger people become easily addicted to tobacco and older people have an easier time quitting tobacco product use, raising the minimum age for tobacco sales could prevent this addiction from spreading (Ahmad, 2015). Public opinion about tobacco use, the Tobacco 21 bill, California’s computer model, retail, and the comparison in impact between alcohol and tobacco purchasing ages are all considered …show more content…
The state hopes to accomplish this through their Tobacco 21 bill, but they worry about compliances with the retailers of tobacco products. In order to ensure compliance, the State Department of Health Services in California will conduct 4 random checks annually at tobacco outlets (Ahmad, 2015). There are an estimated 73,700 tobacco selling outlets in California which means there will be a total of 294,800 inspections per year (Ahmad, 2015).
To help support the Tobacco 21 bill, the government of California has developed an elaborate computer model. The model calculates the possibilities if the legal tobacco age was raised from 18 to 21 while including multiple aspects in the consideration of the results presented by the model. The model presents drastic changes in smokers of all different age categories over a fifty year span (Ahmad, 2015). The 14-17 year old category is estimated to drop from 15.4% to 2.4%, the 18- 20 year old category could drop from 16.8% to 7.9%, and the 21 and older category could drop from 16.7% to 12.6%. The model also presented the results for the legal age being increased to 19 or 20, and while those results proved that the prevalence dropped, it is not as drastic as if the age were raised to 21. This proves that the age gap between 21 year olds and underage tobacco users is significant enough to reduce the start of use and
Smoking is the act of breathing in the smoke produced by burning tobacco either in cigarettes, cigars or pipes. Smoking was introduced to the European culture by explorers such as Christopher Columbus, the practice soon spread across the globe. Smoking (2017) describes the use of tobacco products in the early 20th century as medicinal. Health practitioners believed smoking would aid in elevating the disposition, concentration and productivity of their patients. However, by the early 21st century the converse to this theory had been proven. Smoking had been identified as one of the leading causes of mortality and disease globally. Smoking is still widespread today, although there are many religious, social and medical discussions against it.
The P.E.R.I.E. process is illustrated in this case by the steps taken to address the issue of smoking rates in adults, being impacted by the rise in adolescent smoking behaviors. The first step of this process is the Problem. In this case, the text indicates, the problem is the growth rate of smoking teens in the 80’s and 90’s (Riegelman & Kirkwood, 2015). This in turn, led to an increase in adult smokers. This would raise rates again, after previously lowering them by approximately 50% (Riegelman & Kirkwood, 2015). The next step is Etiology. In this step we correlate smoking with cancer and the rise of adult smoking rates with the growth of adolescent smoking rates. This in turn, correlates adolescent cigarette smoking, to the rises in cancer (morbidity), and deaths from cancer (mortality). The case study also states, “…it was also found that nearly 90% of those who smoked started before the age of 18…” (Riegelman & Kirkwood, 2015). It was determined through behavior modification (preventing adolescent smoking), the rate of adult smokers would reduce. Thus, recommendations were introduced. The case study reveals, adolescents were targeted in cigarettes advertisements and marketing (Riegelman & Kirkwood, 2015). Cigarette availability was also an issue. Implementations of sales and advertisement campaign policies, were altered in reference to miners. The text reveals, once evaluated, strategies to reduce adolescent smoking
In the United States, smoking cigarettes is the number one preventable cause of morbidity and death (Bergen, 1999), and accounts for $300 Billion in health care costs and economic productivity loss (Jamal, 2015). While the national smoking rate is 16.8% (CDC, 2016), specific demographics are more susceptible to developing smoking habits: people who live below the poverty line (10.9% higher), disabled or with a limitation (6.2% higher), and males (4.7% higher) (Agaku, 2014).
In this article, Joey Connor explains that several important changes were made to cigarette and tobacco taxes in the state of California. He says that by April of this year, the tax rate for distribution of cigarettes in that state will on a pack of cigarettes will increase from $0.87 to $ 2.87. Individuals who proposed this increase argue that California has one of the lowest cigarette tax rates in the country. However, with this increase, the state will be among the top ten cigarette tax rates in the United States. This is the result propt. 56, a Tabaco increase initiative.
Over the last few decades, tobacco and nicotine prevention efforts have risen to an all time high. Prevention efforts focus on education to the public of the negative effects on one’s health when using tobacco and nicotine products, as well as with pleas to healthcare policymakers to increase restrictions on product manufacturing and sales. One policy effort growing in popularity in the United States is called Tobacco 21, which proposes to raise the legal age of purchase for consumers of tobacco and nicotine products to 21 years of age (Farber, Pakhale, & Neptune, 2016). Farber, Pakhale, and Neptune (2016) state that 90% of tobacco and nicotine users begin smoking before the age of 18, with 99% of users starting before the age of 26. Lower smoking cessation rates are associated with earlier ages of initiation and the tobacco industry is known to target youth in advertisement of these products lending to the early age of initiation. The tobacco industry themselves admit that increasing the age allowed for purchase to exclude youth would substantially effect their sales. Tobacco 21 laws also deter adolescents from gaining tobacco or nicotine products from friends 18 to 21 years of age, which is the most likely age group to supply younger teens. With this knowledge, placing tighter restrictions on consumers younger than 21 years of age, using the Tobacco 21 policy, may deter tobacco and nicotine initiation in hopes to prevent individual use at all in the future (Farber
Every time your loved one smoke a cigarettes, it takes away seven minutes of his or her life. By supporting proposition 56 we give them a second chance to live a longer live with you. Fathoming Prop 56 is key to decide the best decision that will benefit all californians. With that in mind, it is important to emphasize the fact that Proposition 56 would raise California’s tobacco tax, which is currently among the lowest in the country, to $2.87 per 2. pack. The money sale from tobacco will be used for improving health programs and research into cures for cancer and other illnesses caused by smoking and tobacco products. It is known that tobacco is responsible for killing 40,000 californians each year, which is more than the total people killed
Public health departments and special interest health organizations strongly support policies of increasing the tobacco purchasing age to 21. Organizations like American Cancer Society, American Lung Association and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids had provided many researches and studies to support the policy. People from age 18 to 21 and parents had mixed opinions. The youth smokers were most likely to oppose this policy. Another large opponents was the tobacco industry, as increasing the tobacco
If 90% of United States smokers could have another chance to redo it, they reported that they would not even have their first puff that initiated their tobacco addiction (Winickoff, Gottlieb, and Mello 2014). The Tobacco 21 bill is a fairly new legislation and already it has shown a decline in underage smokers as a result of its implementation. The results of the survey presented that the public opinion was largely accepting and supportive of the bill. The main argument against the bill is the harm that will come to retailers of tobacco products. Correspondingly, the argument is proven inaccurate and in favor of the bill. The past has shown the improved outcome of the country from the raise in the minimum alcohol age, and researchers regard
Because of the alluring advertising to high school teens from TV and friends, over “23 percent of high school students have used a form of tobacco in the past month, selecting from flavored cigars, electronic cigarettes, and other products” (“Teen Smoking”). Because Vaping Companies, such as JUUL and PHIX, are advertised to teens saying the device is smart and satisfying, high school students underestimate the long term effects of e-cigarettes and tobacco. The number of students who use an e-cigarette every month has exponentially increased because the companies do not address the health effects, but rather, the companies only goal is to increase revenue for themselves. In 2015, vaping companies, gas stations, and grocery stores made an estimated total of “3.3 billion dollars” on vaping devices (“U.S. Vapor Market”). This number, which has continued to increase, is largely formed by teen E-Cigarette users. Although this income number would increase if these machines were legalized for minors, companies would most likely use this money for more advertising, attracting even more high school
The health Department of California is ready to play its role toward the solution of this serious issue. I hope our combined efforts along with the development of making policy about increasing the minimum legal age to 21 years for smoking will make us able to uproot this issue of early age/teenage smoking and will also make us able to fulfill our dream of health America.
History has proven that government penalties, in the form of taxes, deter smoking. The 2000 U.S. Surgeon General’s Report, Reducing Tobacco Use, found that raising tobacco-product prices decreases the prevalence of tobacco use, and tobacco tax increases produce significant long-term improvements in health. From its review of existing research, the report concluded that raising tobacco taxes is one of the most effective tobacco prevention and control strategies (7). Along with price increases, mass-media campaigns and smoking bans have made cigarette smoking pretty much unacceptable in today’s society. “Today, approximately 22 percent of adults age twenty-two and older are smokers, compared with 33 percent in 1979” (Thorpe 1440). It is clear, from these examples, the use of penalties to deter the unhealthy behavior of smoking is a successful intervention.
A survey entitled “Monitoring the Future” was conducted among 8th, 10th, and 12th graders throughout the United States in 2014 (“Monitoring The Future 2014,”2014). Compared to 2009, the results showed a decrease in alcohol use, showing 9% of eighth graders, 23.5% of sophomores, and 37.4% of seniors have drank alcohol in the past month. Whereas there has been a decrease in binge drinking also, for since 1998, where 31.5% of seniors consumed five or more drinks in a row in the past two weeks, the 2014 results showed a decrease to 19.4% (“Monitoring The Future 2014,”2014). Along with these positive declines in results, cigarette smoking is at it’s lowest rate in the survey 's history. Unfortunately, while these results all show a positive decline and an optimistic future for the teenagers of America, not all results turned out this way. Other forms of tobacco use are gaining
The California State Senate approved legislation Thursday to raise the age to buy tobacco products from 18 to 21, as well as regulate the use of electronic cigarettes in places where tradition smoking is already prohibited. While lawmakers say this legislation will prevent young adults from using tobacco, research indicates similar legislation does little to actually prevent teenagers from becoming smokers. In addition, the move to regulate electronic cigarettes casts these items in an unjust light, especially by treating these items similar to traditional
An estimated 36.5 million or 15.1 % of adults aged 18 years old and older currently smoke cigarettes and more than 16,000,000 have smoking or live with diseases that are related to smoking. According to US department of health and human services, over the past five decades, there is a significant decline in cigarette smoking in the U.S. The progress has slowed in recent years and the prevalence of use of other tobacco products such as vapes, e-cigars and smokeless tobacco
Health concerns are the primary issue for nearly all of the stakeholders. Employees care about their job security and integrity for their occupations. The government is responsible for ensuring the safety and overall welfare of its community. If tobacco is known as a health hazard to the citizens, then it is the responsibility of the government to act on it. The customers of the tobacco industry are another huge factor. Of course, they care about their health, the ingredients of the product, the quality, the cost, etc. Then there are the owners and shareholders who, while they may also care about the reputation of the business, they are mainly concerned with the continuation of the corporation and the profits from it.