Trenton, NJ – Gov. Chris Christie has decided not act on a bill that would have boosted New Jersey’s smoking age to 21, keeping the age to buy tobacco products at 19.
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The bill would have fined retailers up to $1,000 if they sold cigarettes or other tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, to anyone 20 years old or younger. Underage smokers would have gone unpunished.
A statement from the Republican governor’s office does not mention the smoking bill but blames the Legislature for sending more than 100 bills to him at the same time “praying for them to be rubber stamped.”
Hawaii recently became the first state to raise its smoking age to 21, and similar measures have been introduced in eight other states. Federal lawmakers have also proposed a nationwide smoking age of 21.
I feel like this is a scam on the one hand smoking is bad for you on the other the state and city charge so much taxes that secretly I don’t think they want you to stop
You can vote you can die for your country but smoking that is where we draw the line.
The picture accompanying this article is a subtle way of skewing our thinking. The picture is of a young child smoking. The bill Christie allowed to stand was to keep the smoking age at 19 – not 9.
#3 so what you saying is instead of fixing the problem just put a bandage. It’s none of the governments business if I smoke or not. (I’m not a smoker and I can’t stand smoke but that does not take away the fact that the government has to leave us alone) if you want put on the books, if you smoke we leave you to die! Unless you have your own insurance. Yes I don’t have to pay for someones health if they are not responsible, but to take away freedom is not the way to fix the problem.
Why not just make it illegal to sell cigarettes to anyone born after (say) 2010? That way we can let the industry die out over time.