SOUTH SUBURBAN REPRESENTATIVE SUPPORTS RAISING MINIMUM SALE AGE FOR TOBACCO PRODUCTS

State Representative Debbie Meyers-Martin (pictured) served as a Chair Co-Sponsor on a piece of legislation that was recently passed and will raise the minimum age for purchasing tobacco products from 18 to 21. Photo Credit: Provided by Representative Debbie Meyers-Martin
State Representative Debbie Meyers-Martin (pictured) served as a Chair Co-Sponsor on a piece of legislation that was recently passed and will raise the minimum age for purchasing tobacco products from 18 to 21. Photo Credit: Provided by Representative Debbie Meyers-Martin

SOUTH SUBURBAN REPRESENTATIVE SUPPORTS RAISING MINIMUM SALE AGE FOR TOBACCO PRODUCTS

BY KATHERINE NEWMAN

The Illinois House of Representatives recently passed a bill that will raise the minimum age to buy tobacco products from 18 to 21 in the State of Illinois. Debbie Meyers-Martin represents the 38th District of Illinois and was a chief co-sponsor for this piece of legislation because she believes that this will be beneficial for the health of her constituents and for the entire state.

“This is such a valuable piece legislation for people not only in my district but throughout the entire state so I was very happy to sign on to supporting this once I was able to read the entirety of the legislation and understand the effect of it,” said Meyers-Martin.

Nationwide, tobacco use is the largest preventable cause of death and disease in the United States and cigarette smoking kills more than 480,000 Americans each year. Often times, tobacco product use is started and established during a person’s teenage years with nine out of 10 cigarette smokers stating that they had their first cigarette by the age of 18, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control.

“I was provided with information from the Cancer Society and other agencies when I did my investigative work and found that most people start to smoke when they are teenagers and so if you can be an impetus to slowing that process down in terms of teenagers being able to smoke, then you really are being quite effective in a wellness kind of way. That was genuinely a motivation for this legislation and for me to sign on to it,” said Meyers-Martin.

As the Chief Co-Sponsor of this legislation, Meyers-Martin was able to take a leadership role when it came to sharing the importance of passing this bill and advocating for the health and wellness of her constituents and all Illinois residents. Representative Meyers-Martin gave the impression that it wasn’t too difficult to get support for this bill because it had already been passed once before but was vetoed by the former Governor, Bruce Rauner.

“An interesting fact about the history of this legislation is that it was introduced last year and passed but the Governor vetoed it and it did not go into law. This year, many of the representatives that were opposed to it last year actually voted yes and commended the bill for its focus on health and in particular for young people. It was a very interesting dialogue that took place,” said Meyers-Martin.

This legislation will apply to all tobacco products including cigarettes, cigars, loose tobacco, and e-cigarettes.

Limiting access to e-cigarettes could potentially be a turning point for preventing young people from becoming addicted to nicotine because nearly 1 of every 20 middle schoolers and 1 of every 5 high school students reported in 2018 that they used electronic cigarettes in the past 30 days, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control.

After passing in the House, the bill was then voted on by members of the Illinois State Senate where it also passed and pending approval by the Governor, it will take effect as state law on July 1.

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