A report by the Institute of Medicine said that more lives would be saved, if the legal age for smoking is 21 because fewer people would start smoking.
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Tobacco use in women is on the rise. The health risks of tobacco are far too many has never done a woman any good psychologically or health-wise.
If the legal age were raised to 19, smoking prevalence would drop by three percent by the year 2100, it found.
Were the legal age set at 21, there would be a 12 percent decrease in smoking prevalence by the end of the century.
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Smoking is the most important preventable cause of cancer in the world.
Smoking is the most important preventable cause of cancer in the world.
No recommendation was made by the report, which will be delivered to government agencies.
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Smoking kills the smoker silently, pushing him towards serious illnesses, which slowly lead to death.
Smoking kills the smoker silently, pushing him towards serious illnesses, which slowly lead to death.
Despite decades of public health efforts to reduce smoking, 40 million Americans -- or about one in five adults -- continue to smoke.
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"While the development of some cognitive abilities is achieved by age 16, the parts of the brain most responsible for decision making, impulse control, and peer susceptibility and conformity continue to develop until about age 25," said committee chair Richard Bonnie, director of the Institute of Law, Psychiatry, and Public Policy at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.
"A balance needs to be struck between the personal interests of young adults in being allowed to make their own choices and society's legitimate concerns about protecting the public health and discouraging young people from making decisions they may later regret, due to their vulnerability to nicotine addiction and immaturity of judgment."
Cigarette smoking causes cancer and has been linked to diabetes, heart disease and premature death.
The committee also found that if the minimum age were raised to 21 nationwide, there would be approximately 249,000 fewer premature deaths among today's youth, including 45,000 fewer deaths from lung cancer.
"By assessing the public health implications of raising the minimum age for accessing tobacco products, this report aims to provide the scientific guidance that states and localities need when evaluating new policies to achieve the ultimate goal -- the reduction and eventual elimination of tobacco use by children and youth," said Victor Dzau, president of the Institute of Medicine.
Source-Medindia
