I want to applaud the Maplewood Township Committee for considering the ordinance for raising the age of selling cigarettes, e-cigarettes and any other tobacco-related merchandise from 19 to 21.
According to the Institute of Medicine, 90 percent of smokers started using tobacco before they turned 21 and according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cigarette smoking causes roughly one in every five deaths in the United States per year.
The use of the electronic devices, e-cigarettes among middle school and high school students tripled from 2013 to 2014, rising from approximately 120,000 to 450,000 middle school students and 660,000 to 2 million high school students. Several studies — have stated that e-cigarettes are the gateway to cigarettes.
As a father of a 5th grader heading to Maple Middle next fall, this is concerning.
According to the Institute of Medicine, raising the minimum age would significantly reduce smoking rates, resulting in fewer premature deaths, deaths from lung cancer; and 4.2 million fewer years of life lost for persons born between 2000 and 2019.
Public health is indeed a concern and the importance of less people beginning to smoke and potentially less people having smoking-related deaths is admirable and good work.
— Frank McGehee, Maplewood, NJ
Frank McGehee lives in Maplewood with his wife and 5th grader. McGehee is running for Mapelwood Township Committee as the Democratic candidate this year.
