BC’s top doctor supports changing smoking age to 21
Posted January 8, 2016 3:26 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – BC’s top doctor supports the idea of our legal smoking age changing to 21 given a recent US study already influencing lawmakers stateside.
The National Institute of Medicine study shows the smoking rate would drop by 12 per cent if you increase the legal age and that it would reduce smoking related deaths by 10 per cent.
“If we can focus on preventing people from smoking and as the government has recently done, made quit smoking aids more easily available that should reduce. Those two initiatives should reduce the prevalence of smoking in BC significantly,” says Provincial Health Officer Doctor Perry Kendall. “I think there’s still really universal acceptance of the fact that we know if you don’t smoke by the age of 19 you’re very unlikely to become a confirmed smoker. And if you can reduce that likelihood even further then I think this is worthwhile having a conversation about.”
He says given the evidence, he would be prepared to support an increase in the legal age here.
