Senate Could Soon Consider Raising Smoking Age To 19
Vince Leibowitz | Apr 01, 2009 | Comments 0
The Texas Senate is one step closer to ratifying a measure that would increase the smoking age from 18 to 19 in Texas. A bill to raise the smoking age passed the Senate’s Health & Human Services Committee yesterday and now heads to the full Senate.
While public health advocates seem to think that raising the smoking age from 18 to 19 will actually accomplish something (like keeping cigarettes out of schools), it isn’t likely to do much more than cut an estimated $12.5 million in tax revenue for the next biennium.
As we’ve seen with the drinking age, raising it doesn’t help. That is probably why only four states have actually increased the smoking age.
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Filed Under: 81st Texas Legislature
