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While the Legislature is considering raising the legal smoking age from 19 to 21, House Republicans on Thursday discussed the possibility of even eventually banning smoking altogether.
"At some point I think we may go that route and outlaw cigarettes," Rep. Kraig Powell, R-Heber City, told the House GOP caucus as it discussed his HB157 to raise the legal smoking age to 21.
Powell was asked why his bill would set the legal smoking age at age 21, and why it would not go even higher — or even ban it altogether.
"That's my bill next year after this one passes," Powell joked. But then he said, "I'm serious. There is no redeeming social value at all" to smoking, so eventually lawmakers should consider outlawing tobacco use.
But for now, Powell's bill would raise the legal age to 21 — the same as for alcohol, which he said would make enforcement for both easier and less confusing. Medical research has shown that the brain is still developing before age 21, Powell said, and people after that age are able to make more mature decisions.
He said Hawaii this year just raised its legal age to 21 for smoking, and New Jersey has passed a similar bill — but it has yet to be signed into law.
Fiscal analysts figure the bill would cost the state $2 million in lost tobacco taxes. "The fiscal note is proof we will be saving lives" because fewer people will smoke, Powell said.