SALT LAKE CITY – Senate Bill 12, which proposed to raise the legal age for purchasing tobacco products to 21, did not survive the Utah Senate Tuesday.
The bill was defeated in a 16-12 vote. Currently the legal age for acquiring tobacco products is Utah is 19, as it is in a number of other states. The only place in the nation where the legal age has been raised to 21 is New York City, which enacted the age change last year.
According to Deseret News, while state senators agreed tobacco use has its dangers, some could not support the bill for various reasons. Among those reasons included not seeing a big difference between the ages of 19 and 21, and a loss of tobacco tax revenue.
According to senate fiscal notes attached to SB 12, the legislation could have potentially impacted some 4,700 people and resulted in a loss of $2.7 million to the state’s general fund and local government funds.
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- Bill to raise age restriction to 21 for tobacco products passes committee
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GOOD! If kids can decide to die for thier country, they can decide to smoke or not. I feel the same way about drinking. The underage drinkers are not getting the DUI or flipping city vehicles with thier children in them. These are adults that break the rules.
Good! If 18 year olds can fight for their country and pay taxes for their country, they shouldn’t have to be 21 in order to make adult decisions.
I feel like every 5yo should be issued an m16 rifle. Gotta get’em trained young.
It is what it always is Money!!morman …
Ed. ellipsis
GOOD! If a kid can get a gun, join the military, drop out of school, drive etc before 21 then he or she should be able to smoke and drink!
That’s too bad! If kids can’t get their own insurance until they are 26, they can’t decide whether to smoke! 🙂
@RICHARD….But you have no problem whatsoever in them die for your freedoms in some country in BFE??
Better than dying Stateside for no reason….
They should decriminalize Cannibus and give us baby boomers a break
I can dig it!
Well, I guess you could move to Colorado or Washington. Or, you could stay right here, and try to influence our politicians to vote for making it legal. That is what I hope you, and many others will do.
Then we can look forward to a cannabis using, trailer park dwelling society like they aspire to in Nor.cal.