The Princeton Board of Health plans to introduce an ordinance that will prohibit stores from selling tobacco products and electronic smoking devices to anyone under 21 years old.
The ordinance is set to be introduced by the Board of Health on March 26 and may be adopted by April 21.
The Board of Health was concerned with the problem of youth smoking, Charles Rojer, a member of the Princeton Board of Health, said.
“I think, if hopefully passed, [the ordinance] will prevent a significant number of teenagers from becoming involved in smoking, which, along with obesity, is one of the two main problems that we encounter in our society that causes so many health problems,” Rojer said. “Anything we can do that could cut down the likelihood of teenagers getting involved [with tobacco] would be worthwhile.”
There is also empirical evidence to support an ordinance raising the smoking age from 19 to 21, he added.
“It has been shown in other states to be effective to move the [tobacco purchasing] age from 19 to 21,” he said.
The other members of the Princeton Board of Health did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Councilwoman Heather Howard, best online casino liaison to the Board of Health, also did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
If the ordinance passes, Princeton will become the fourth town in New Jersey to have this kind of restriction on tobacco purchasing, along with Englewood, Sayreville and Teaneck.
New Jersey raised the minimum age for buying cigars, cigarettes and other tobacco products from 18 to 19 in 2006, making it one of five states to do so. In June 2014, lawmakers in the state legislature introduced legislation to raise the tobacco buying age to 21. The measure passed the state senate by a vote of 23-10 and is pending in the assembly.
Students interviewed expressed skepticism of the ordinance.
“I don’t use tobacco products, but I feel like after you’re 18, it’s kind of your own business,” Maya Wahrman ’16 said. “It doesn’t really matter whether you wait until you’re 21 or not, which is what we’ve seen with drinking on campus.”
Allie Diamond ’18 said she agreed a ban on smoking would likely be ineffective.
“I’m not necessarily a supporter of tobacco, but I don’t think that banning it to people under 21 will do much,” she said. “The legal drinking age is 21, but people under 21 still manage to drink alcohol."
However, there could be potential empirical benefits to such a policy, Elly Czakowski ’15 said.
“As far as health implications go, I think that people shouldn’t smoke,” she explained. “If you have less access at an early age, you’ll be less likely to get addicted. Tobacco, from my understanding, is about as addicting as alcohol, so why not make it the same age to get? ... I think it would be better to raise the age to help decrease the amount of people getting addicted at a young age.”
While the potential effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the ordinance was a concern for some students, Tim Livingstone ’18 said 18-year-olds should be treated as full adults.
“I think [the age for buying tobacco] should be lowered to the age of 18, because at the age of 18, I think you’ve got the freedom to choose to smoke, or, in my opinion, to drink as well,” he said.
The ordinance, if passed, could also affect student traffic at the Wawa.Wawa Inc. did not respond to a request for comment.
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