Hawaii is serious about imposing a ban on cigarettes and a new bill proposes to raise the minimum age for buying cigarettes from 21 to 100. It is possible to achieve this by 2024 if done in a phased manner. Such an action is necessary because smoking is injurious to health. It can lead to health issues like cancer and consequent unimaginable physical suffering and the worst kind of death. The bill excludes certain types of tobacco products from the purview of this legislation.

Euro News reports the bill describes the cigarette as a product that kills many of the long-term users.

Therefore, there is a thinking in Hawaii to arrest the trend over a period of time and create a safe environment free from diseases like cancer. This could be possible by introducing the ban progressively in order to achieve total elimination of the evil by 2024.

Ban on cigarettes is in order

The initiative taken by Hawaii is a step in the right direction. There are visual warnings on cigarette packets but the addicts ignore them, resulting in health problems that could end up as incurable cancer.

New York City has already taken steps to ban cigarettes and other tobacco products with effect from January 2019. Now Hawaii joins the cause and raises its voice.

Euro News says cigarettes bring in revenue for the State, hence there is a reluctance to introduce drastic measures.

Therefore, the bill suggests a gradual implementation to enable state administrators to locate alternative sources of revenue. Hawaii was the first state that raised the minimum age for buying cigarettes to 21. Maine also raised the legal smoking age from 18 to 21.

A doctor takes the lead

According to Sky News, Hawaii plans a major offensive against cigarettes by raising the minimum age limit for buying cigarettes to 100 years.

This is the strategy of Richard Creagan. He is not just a Democrat politician but he happens to be a doctor who used to be a smoker. He believes much more needs to be done to uproot the evil because in his opinion it is “the deadliest artefact in human history". He has spelled out a staggered approach to reach the objective.

It is not a matter to sweep away under the carpet because there is hardly any secret about the ill effects of smoking.

There are visual messages on the packets to warn the people and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention have identified cigarettes as the “leading cause of preventable disease and death in the US.” Obviously, someone has to take a stand and put the foot down.
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