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Bend City Council Endorses Raising the Tobacco Sales Age to 21
April 22, 2016
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Noe Baker
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Bend City Council Endorses Raising the Tobacco Sales Age to 21
Advocates Urge Lawmakers to Pass Policy to Protect Kids from Tobacco
Bend, Ore. – April 21, 2016 – Last night, Bend City Council passed a proclamation from Councilman Dr. Nathan Boddie to support raising the minimum sales age of tobacco to 21. Bend has become the first city in Oregon to show official support for enacting this policy to raise the legal age of sale for tobacco, which will help protect Oregon’s kids from tobacco addiction and reduce death from tobacco-related illnesses.
Currently, more than 135 cities and counties nationwide as well as the state of Hawaii have raised the age for tobacco sales to 21. A bill to do the same in California is headed to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk. The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), the advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, and its 24 Tobacco 21 for Oregon coalition partners are working statewide to gain support for legislation in 2017.
“It’s so great to have this support from Bend’s leaders and we’re grateful to Dr. Nathan Boddie for bringing this important issue forward,” said ACS CAN Oregon Government Relations Director Luis Rodriguez. “We look forward to continuing to work with city leaders and community partners to support tobacco 21 policy in Bend, Deschutes County, and the state of Oregon.”
An estimated 2,600 Oregon kids will become new daily smokers this year, equal to about seven kids each day. Unless current smoking rates decline, 68,000 Oregon kids alive today will die prematurely from tobacco-related illnesses. An Institute of Medicine report predicts that raising the national minimum age of sale for tobacco to 21 will reduce smoking among 15-17 year olds by 25 percent as it will reduce the likelihood that high school students can get tobacco products from their 18-year-old peers.
“Tobacco use is Oregon’s leading cause of preventable death, killing roughly 5,500 Oregonians each year,” said Rodriguez. “National data indicate that 95 percent of adult smokers start smoking before age 21, so if we want to protect future generations from Big Tobacco, then we need to enact policies that help protect our kids.” According to the Oregon Health Authority, 22% of 11th graders in Deschutes County use some form of tobacco products.
Raising the minimum sale age for tobacco to 21 is an important step in strengthening Oregon’s tobacco control laws. This policy should be passed as part of comprehensive efforts to “tackle tobacco with a three-legged stool,” that includes smoke-free policies, as well as substantial, regular tobacco tax increases and fully funded tobacco prevention and cessation programs—two areas where Oregon trails other states.
The Tobacco 21 for Oregon coalition aims to raise the age of sale for tobacco products to 21 statewide in 2017. So far, 24 organizations have signed on in support, and the group hopes to bring another 50 groups into the campaign.
ACS CAN, the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, supports evidence-based policy and legislative solutions designed to eliminate cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage elected officials and candidates to make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer with the training and tools they need to make their voices heard.
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