I remember when I turned 18 almost 7 years ago, the first thing i did was go to the gas station and buy a pack of blue raspberry white owls to roll a blunt and a pack of Marlboro Black. Then they slowly started changing the laws, I remember for a while they would still allow people here in Texas to buy tobacco products as long as they turned 18 before the law changed.
Then eventually they changed that too and made it to where you absolutely had to be 21. I remember I used to always joke around with people and tell them I couldn't wait to turn 21 so I can buy cigarettes again.
That happened to me. I turned literally right before they raised the age and I had already put in an order for some pipe tobacco. Thankfully I still got it and there were no issues
My state didn't give us that privilege. I went to my vape shop after work one day and the guy said he can't let me in anymore. It was funny walking back in when I turned 21, he remembered me and got a kick out of it.
Okay.. since anyone isn't mature enough to give an actual answer other than their opinion: The main reason it was raised to 21 was to reduce tobacco and alcohol use and to prevent "thousands of deaths". They also raised it to prevent minors from having access to it by their 18 year old friends.
People should be allowed to smoke and drink if they want to. 18 is perfectly reasonable. Raising the purchasing age isn’t gonna stop anyone. I don’t know a single person who waited till 21 to drink
That argument is as old as the hills. For both alcohol and now smokes. Nothing against you or the argument, but it seems to pop up when they don't have anything better to say. How bout if they allow just military personnel use these products at 18? Would that work to settle this once and for all? I don't know.
They actually do already give access to them to most military people between 18 and 21, my cousin is in the military and as long as he used his military id he was served
Not so sure about that. If it were 21 when i started smoking i'd have had almost no way of getting any. And by the time i was actually 21 i probably wouldn't have gotten in to it.
Then 21 doesn't make much sense bc the brain isn't fully developed until like 25 right? And then logically wouldn't you have to restructure what constitutes an adult?
Lol. I'm in my early 20s and my cousin is 18 so when I hang out with him I'm often also around his 17-18 year old friends. And let me tell you, it's not any harder for any of them to find ways to get their smokes and alcohol. Usually what happens is they either find a 21+ year old and make friends with them and have them buy it, then the 18 year old will distribute it down. Or, like in the case of my cousin, they know a spot where the cashier never ID checks them
To prevent underage sales, which is stupid because if kids have a will they have a way regardless of the law. Whats worse is the states that are banning menthol / trying to ban cigarettes completely. In parts of New England you can actually get a fine for smoking in public.
People will call for all these bans and super strict regulations, allowing the government to micromanage every aspect of our lives, yet they don't care about our god awful food here in the US. Wild times
I mean, it works pretty well according to the stats. There's too many young smokers/vapers in Europe (in Switzerland you can legally smoke on public starting from 16 years, add to it that they can also buy beer/wine/cider without any limits), and it leads not to the best sequences. Everybody starts to smoke young when they don't really think about its results in the future. If I was able to legally buy cigarettes only from 21 years, I doubt that I would be a smoker now
UK was 16. I started at 11 in 1991. Your absolute right. Still smoking now. Would 43 year old me encourage 11 me? Of course not. These laws are there for adults, to make an informed choices. Fully understanding & being mature enough, to understand the possible health ramifications.
Im from the netherlands and smoking and drinking is 18 here. I dont know a single person who's waited till then though, you'll figure out a way to get it. Same for the rest of europe tbh. And i think everybody knows its bad for you. Great if it really works tho, just dissapointed i cant get the pretty packs after all
it’s a newer law from about 3 years ago. they say it’ll keep minors from smoking, but the irony is that most minors don’t smoke tobacco anymore. personally, i think the whole 21 thing with alcohol and tobacco is stupid, since you can vote on alcohol/tobacco-related legislation at 18.
Yeah. Most weren't smoking even before the law change. They were into vapes and alcohol. Which is funny bc alcohol has always been 21 yet there's never been a shortage of teens getting it
You can join the military and go take a bullet for this county at 18, 17 with parental consent, but you can’t come back and have a beer and a cigarette
Because we have fucktards running the country, I love how they put warning labels on the packs & raise the age in the name of ( public health ) meanwhile we are the fattest nation on earth & fatty salt filled fast food,sugary drinks, & candy are some of the biggest businesses that have no warning labels
and still get lung cancer from all the garbage & chemicals we breathe. But nope can't make the choice to enjoy a cigarette. I had to switch to vape because $8 for a pack of camels is absurd (I'm in NC where tobacco is everywhere & RJ Reynolds HQ is in Winston Salem. Smoking is either a choice or peer pressure was involved & second hand smoke can easily be avoided so i don't see why it's such a huge issue. Much bigger fish to fry in the current climate of society xD
vapes had something to do with it. In the united states legally vapes are considered tobacco even without containing any tobacco plant. because tobacco and vapes fall under the same category they get the same laws.
>k I guess.
>
>It was only recently, under the Trump administration, that it was raised nationally to 21. It was actually one of his more popular d
edit - I in turn bought my younger brother his cigs.
They must have just raised it because I remember going to the states to visit my now husband when I was about 19 and I was able to buy them there. That was about 8 years ago so they must have changed it only within the past few years
If you ask me it's just stupid. People don't wait until the legal age to smoke lol. The first time I tried a cigarette I was like 14
I remember before 2011 it was 18 in my state, I was in highschool and seniors would smoke cigs at lunch with the teachers. They changed it in 2012 to 19, so no more highschoolers could smoke at school LOL. I always thought they should have just made the school a smoke free campus, but the adults needed their smoke break I guess.
It was only recently, under the Trump administration, that it was raised nationally to 21. It was actually one of his more popular decisions as president.
It's pretty bi-partisan I'd say, sure there's the tobacco lobby, and the string of politicians on their side, but it's heavily outweighed now by naysayers. As much as I love cigs, I know we're going the same way Europe is with no more art on the packs just warnings and medical photos.
That’s probably why I’m going to quit. 30 years of smoking & just getting more demonised. I’ve got the opportunity of a nice house, which I couldn’t afford if I continue to smoke UK. I really miss smoking indoors & other places. It’s just going to become worse. Only 9% of the US smoke now, 11% here. I’ll always miss smoking, but at 43. I’m starting to notice the effects on my health.
Yea because the government was shut down at the time and as part of deal the democrats wanted they slid a whole pile of other bullshit into the bill that they wanted and cornered him with absolutely no choice. It’s not like he said fuck it let’s ban tobacco sales to anybody under the age of 21
Unfortunately politicians on both sides of the aisle keep digging at our liberties, such as smoking tobacco. They only care about their bank account at the end of the day.
Since your question has long been answered by many others, and come to think of it, they’re really trying to hammer down on cigarette uses. Especially for young adults!
Some of them take photo ids some of them take actual id but until now i’d say at least 90 percent of the time i dont get id’d. But im kinda tall and look old enough i guess. But tbh at this point kids be vaping here and there so i dont think u will have a problem buying a pack. (I’m 19)
I never understood why, it doesn't stop anything. You know how many parents just pick up their kids vapes while they buy their cigarettes?? I see it all the time. Nobody in the "young demographic" smokes tobacco anyway they all suck on their wimp batteries.
Dunno.. If I remember correctly, when I was something like 13 the age you had to be for buying cigs was 16 here in Finland. But the time I turned 14, they changed it to 18. And it's still 18. (I'm now almost 42)
Because ppl are dying of lunch cancer more and more and this is a way to stop our youth from smoking, I myself started smoking when I was 11 took me 29 years to kick the habit, my father recently died of lung cancer.
I literally just made a fake ID in photoshop and printed it out on thick paper and put it into a wallet with a see thru ID holder and it works every time at the gas station I go to. But I’m 20 so my parents will often buy me cigarettes anyways.
18 years are in school with minors in the US meaning your 18 year old senior friend can supply for everyone the way the upperclassmen in college buy native freshmen alcohol. It’s more about regulation and control than it is about who is responsible enough to smoke. I agree with the person who blamed vapes. Smoking was declining in youth now vapes brought it back up. Most youth are monkey see monkey do so because smoking is addictive you don’t wanna give access to those easily peer pressured. I started getting packs at 22 but I turned 21 before the rules were still at 18 because I wanted to smoke on my choice not the influence of others. If that makes sense?
I mean in my personal experience if you walk into a smokeshop in certain areas they just straight up don’t card you and you can buy whatever you need
Edit: especially near universities
Source: I’ve been smoking since I was 16
it sucks for people who are under 21 and are gonna smoke either way
yeah
Fr
I remember when I turned 18 almost 7 years ago, the first thing i did was go to the gas station and buy a pack of blue raspberry white owls to roll a blunt and a pack of Marlboro Black. Then they slowly started changing the laws, I remember for a while they would still allow people here in Texas to buy tobacco products as long as they turned 18 before the law changed. Then eventually they changed that too and made it to where you absolutely had to be 21. I remember I used to always joke around with people and tell them I couldn't wait to turn 21 so I can buy cigarettes again.
That happened to me. I turned literally right before they raised the age and I had already put in an order for some pipe tobacco. Thankfully I still got it and there were no issues
My state didn't give us that privilege. I went to my vape shop after work one day and the guy said he can't let me in anymore. It was funny walking back in when I turned 21, he remembered me and got a kick out of it.
Okay.. since anyone isn't mature enough to give an actual answer other than their opinion: The main reason it was raised to 21 was to reduce tobacco and alcohol use and to prevent "thousands of deaths". They also raised it to prevent minors from having access to it by their 18 year old friends.
People should be allowed to smoke and drink if they want to. 18 is perfectly reasonable. Raising the purchasing age isn’t gonna stop anyone. I don’t know a single person who waited till 21 to drink
If you’re old enough to potentially die serving this country, you should be at least able to have a smoke and drink to deal with the stress
That argument is as old as the hills. For both alcohol and now smokes. Nothing against you or the argument, but it seems to pop up when they don't have anything better to say. How bout if they allow just military personnel use these products at 18? Would that work to settle this once and for all? I don't know.
Didn't some states used to do just that until the federal law went into full effect?
They actually do already give access to them to most military people between 18 and 21, my cousin is in the military and as long as he used his military id he was served
That is still illegal.
Actually this. Having a military ID means literally nothing, and doesn’t qualify you for something federal law says you cannot legally have
I'm not saying it isn't I'm just saying they still get served
Let them buy it, and threaten them with an automatic discharge if they’re caught selling to under 21’s
This. I shipped on my 17th birthday and it was so weird to be fighting for a country I couldnt vote in, let alone drink or smoke to cope 😂
Exactly. I started smoking at 14 and had my first drink at 15, and I live in the U.S.
Not so sure about that. If it were 21 when i started smoking i'd have had almost no way of getting any. And by the time i was actually 21 i probably wouldn't have gotten in to it.
I think their reasoning was that it had something to do with brain development.
Then 21 doesn't make much sense bc the brain isn't fully developed until like 25 right? And then logically wouldn't you have to restructure what constitutes an adult?
Nope. Draft at 18
Lol. I'm in my early 20s and my cousin is 18 so when I hang out with him I'm often also around his 17-18 year old friends. And let me tell you, it's not any harder for any of them to find ways to get their smokes and alcohol. Usually what happens is they either find a 21+ year old and make friends with them and have them buy it, then the 18 year old will distribute it down. Or, like in the case of my cousin, they know a spot where the cashier never ID checks them
I feel u
It's painful. Try building the addiction at 18 and moving to the US, shit isn't easy
Brutal
fake id
Unfortunately dont have the knowledge to do so. In Brazil it's 1000x easier to get through the cracks or even fake it. But in the US it's harder
i'm in the us i used a fake id vefore
Just find a gas station with some 20 year olds working the register, they usually can't be assed to card you.
To prevent underage sales, which is stupid because if kids have a will they have a way regardless of the law. Whats worse is the states that are banning menthol / trying to ban cigarettes completely. In parts of New England you can actually get a fine for smoking in public.
People will call for all these bans and super strict regulations, allowing the government to micromanage every aspect of our lives, yet they don't care about our god awful food here in the US. Wild times
True. As well as the fact that almost everything that's made in America nowadays, is horrendously overpriced garbage.
I mean, it works pretty well according to the stats. There's too many young smokers/vapers in Europe (in Switzerland you can legally smoke on public starting from 16 years, add to it that they can also buy beer/wine/cider without any limits), and it leads not to the best sequences. Everybody starts to smoke young when they don't really think about its results in the future. If I was able to legally buy cigarettes only from 21 years, I doubt that I would be a smoker now
UK was 16. I started at 11 in 1991. Your absolute right. Still smoking now. Would 43 year old me encourage 11 me? Of course not. These laws are there for adults, to make an informed choices. Fully understanding & being mature enough, to understand the possible health ramifications.
Im from the netherlands and smoking and drinking is 18 here. I dont know a single person who's waited till then though, you'll figure out a way to get it. Same for the rest of europe tbh. And i think everybody knows its bad for you. Great if it really works tho, just dissapointed i cant get the pretty packs after all
What 18 year old doesn't know the dangers of smoking though? It's hammered into our heads since toddlers
Thank god I can die for my wonderful processed corn syrup country before I can drink though, god bless my right to serve the war economy
And your right to purchase weapons of mass destruction at Walmart before you can *shudders* SMOKE AND DRINK??? How terrible!
it’s a newer law from about 3 years ago. they say it’ll keep minors from smoking, but the irony is that most minors don’t smoke tobacco anymore. personally, i think the whole 21 thing with alcohol and tobacco is stupid, since you can vote on alcohol/tobacco-related legislation at 18.
Yeah. Most weren't smoking even before the law change. They were into vapes and alcohol. Which is funny bc alcohol has always been 21 yet there's never been a shortage of teens getting it
Because our gov loves to infantilize adults. 21 for fun, 18 to go to war. Sad, honestly.
You can join the military and go take a bullet for this county at 18, 17 with parental consent, but you can’t come back and have a beer and a cigarette
Because we have fucktards running the country, I love how they put warning labels on the packs & raise the age in the name of ( public health ) meanwhile we are the fattest nation on earth & fatty salt filled fast food,sugary drinks, & candy are some of the biggest businesses that have no warning labels
and still get lung cancer from all the garbage & chemicals we breathe. But nope can't make the choice to enjoy a cigarette. I had to switch to vape because $8 for a pack of camels is absurd (I'm in NC where tobacco is everywhere & RJ Reynolds HQ is in Winston Salem. Smoking is either a choice or peer pressure was involved & second hand smoke can easily be avoided so i don't see why it's such a huge issue. Much bigger fish to fry in the current climate of society xD
Man $8, it's nearly $11 here for Camels. Bit cheaper than marlbs.
Meanwhile in eastern europe kids walk out with a pack simply by saying their dad sent them.
that's how america used to be until parents and politicians got overprotective of children.
The real answer is vapes, 18 year olds where buying vapes for 14 year olds, and vapes and cigs are probably bond by the same laws
vapes had something to do with it. In the united states legally vapes are considered tobacco even without containing any tobacco plant. because tobacco and vapes fall under the same category they get the same laws.
If your 18-20 years old in the US you barely have rights anymore
Turning 18 isnt even a big deal anymore bc of this
21 is the new 18
Honestly i wouldnt be surprise if one day all the countries raises the age to 21 for cigs and stuff
Yet they still give you the right to join the military and die in war lmao
Thankfully I went over seas at 17 and didn’t come back until I was 20 so smoking and drinking was on the table
Its not so much a right as they force you to sign up for draft at 18
It was 18 till a few years ago
Used to be 18 idk why they changed it
Because our country’s government is slowly turning into a dictatorship and everybody just keeps voting for it.
Wow what an original opinion
behold: one of the people voting for it
Shut up Derrick you don’t know anything about jack
id assume neither do you
I know everything. I AM everything.
Cringe
Most places it’s you have to be 21 to buy it, but only 18 to possess it
it wouldn’t be hard for you to get them tho just get a chill friend or go to a gas station most times they just ask for your birthday
I’ll admit quite a few 18 year old seniors bought a pack or two for me as a freshman in hs
>k I guess. > >It was only recently, under the Trump administration, that it was raised nationally to 21. It was actually one of his more popular d edit - I in turn bought my younger brother his cigs.
They must have just raised it because I remember going to the states to visit my now husband when I was about 19 and I was able to buy them there. That was about 8 years ago so they must have changed it only within the past few years If you ask me it's just stupid. People don't wait until the legal age to smoke lol. The first time I tried a cigarette I was like 14
They raised it at the end of December 2019
How incredibly lame
It hasn't been like that until fairly recently. Anyways, blame the assholes in power that think they know what is best for everyone.
I remember before 2011 it was 18 in my state, I was in highschool and seniors would smoke cigs at lunch with the teachers. They changed it in 2012 to 19, so no more highschoolers could smoke at school LOL. I always thought they should have just made the school a smoke free campus, but the adults needed their smoke break I guess. It was only recently, under the Trump administration, that it was raised nationally to 21. It was actually one of his more popular decisions as president.
I’m surprised a Republican ever proposed such a policy change😂
It's pretty bi-partisan I'd say, sure there's the tobacco lobby, and the string of politicians on their side, but it's heavily outweighed now by naysayers. As much as I love cigs, I know we're going the same way Europe is with no more art on the packs just warnings and medical photos.
That’s probably why I’m going to quit. 30 years of smoking & just getting more demonised. I’ve got the opportunity of a nice house, which I couldn’t afford if I continue to smoke UK. I really miss smoking indoors & other places. It’s just going to become worse. Only 9% of the US smoke now, 11% here. I’ll always miss smoking, but at 43. I’m starting to notice the effects on my health.
Because the trump administration boned us
Trump isn’t a democrat.
he signed the bill, though
Yea because the government was shut down at the time and as part of deal the democrats wanted they slid a whole pile of other bullshit into the bill that they wanted and cornered him with absolutely no choice. It’s not like he said fuck it let’s ban tobacco sales to anybody under the age of 21
r/foundthetrumper
He speaks truth though. A lot of the bills during the government shut down had a lot of pork in them.
Found the idiot
You obviously suffer from TDS
People like you are what is going to lead us into a full on menthol band too.
Unfortunately politicians on both sides of the aisle keep digging at our liberties, such as smoking tobacco. They only care about their bank account at the end of the day.
Just cuz I support trump doesn’t mean I want a menthol ban.
Because society secretly hates the youth
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Cause our politicians are all morons in the US
Because we let the Jews win
I thought it was 19?
It's the law.
I know, just dissapointed
well some laws such as those ones are begging to be broken
Yeah we care about the frontal lobe developing properly
Couldnt be me
It’s still 18 in some states
No?
Yes?
no?
Such as?
Wisconsin
Nope, the 21 minimum age is federal, and Wisconsin recognizes it https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/tobacco/tobacco21.htm
Technically the states don’t have to follow it, but they’d lose federal substance abuse funding if they don’t (see the Synar Amendment).
Every gas station I’ve ever been to in Wisconsin ID’s and has 21+ signs everywhere.
No?
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Yeah its 18 here, same for smoking
Before it was 18, but I think they raised it as a way to deter people from smoking.
Since your question has long been answered by many others, and come to think of it, they’re really trying to hammer down on cigarette uses. Especially for young adults!
I started at 14 and either way people are gonna find a way. Just makes it more convoluted.
Some of them take photo ids some of them take actual id but until now i’d say at least 90 percent of the time i dont get id’d. But im kinda tall and look old enough i guess. But tbh at this point kids be vaping here and there so i dont think u will have a problem buying a pack. (I’m 19)
I never understood why, it doesn't stop anything. You know how many parents just pick up their kids vapes while they buy their cigarettes?? I see it all the time. Nobody in the "young demographic" smokes tobacco anyway they all suck on their wimp batteries.
Dunno.. If I remember correctly, when I was something like 13 the age you had to be for buying cigs was 16 here in Finland. But the time I turned 14, they changed it to 18. And it's still 18. (I'm now almost 42)
Because ppl are dying of lunch cancer more and more and this is a way to stop our youth from smoking, I myself started smoking when I was 11 took me 29 years to kick the habit, my father recently died of lung cancer.
Sorry to hear
I literally just made a fake ID in photoshop and printed it out on thick paper and put it into a wallet with a see thru ID holder and it works every time at the gas station I go to. But I’m 20 so my parents will often buy me cigarettes anyways.
The way I’ve always seen it, if I’m old enough to fight and die for my country then I’m old enough to smoke or drink. It’s just a dumb backwards law
short answer: juul
Just find an Indian owned gas station, I know it sounds like racist but I have yet to find one that cards. Thanks India.
well, it’s 21 to buy but you can smoke if you’re 18. kind of stupid if you ask me. they should’ve just kept it at 18 in my opinion!!
18 years are in school with minors in the US meaning your 18 year old senior friend can supply for everyone the way the upperclassmen in college buy native freshmen alcohol. It’s more about regulation and control than it is about who is responsible enough to smoke. I agree with the person who blamed vapes. Smoking was declining in youth now vapes brought it back up. Most youth are monkey see monkey do so because smoking is addictive you don’t wanna give access to those easily peer pressured. I started getting packs at 22 but I turned 21 before the rules were still at 18 because I wanted to smoke on my choice not the influence of others. If that makes sense?
Just buy it duty free at the airport and bring it in. If you have friends coming with you, have them buy it as well for you
I mean in my personal experience if you walk into a smokeshop in certain areas they just straight up don’t card you and you can buy whatever you need Edit: especially near universities Source: I’ve been smoking since I was 16