NEW PORT RICHEY, FL –

Pasco officials are clearing the smoke on the legal meth age in Pasco, making it higher than ever before.

On Wednesday, the Pasco Board of County Commissioners approved a measure that would increase the legal meth smoking age in Pasco County from 18 to 21.

According to sources, Pasco lawmakers have been frantically itching to enact the law for some time, but that all previous legal attempts lacked teeth.

Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco explained that raising the requirement is a necessary step to deter teens from trying the drug, “at least for a few more years.”

He added that he hopes the measure will help to “gradually rot away and deteriorate” the meth epidemic in Pasco County.

Critics of the law argue that the new law is inherently unfair, and that anyone old enough to be drafted into the military ought to be able to ruin their life, relationships, and teeth from a crippling addiction.