New Haven to consider raising legal tobacco purchasing age to 21

New Haven City Hall. New Haven City Hall. Photo: Hearst Connecticut Media File Photo Photo: Hearst Connecticut Media File Photo Image 1 of / 20 Caption Close New Haven to consider raising legal tobacco purchasing age to 21 1 / 20 Back to Gallery

NEW HAVEN — The Elm City has joined a growing number of municipalities in the state considering an ordinance to raise the age to buy tobacco products to 21.

The Board of Alders will review a proposal from the Preventing Tobacco Addiction Foundation to raise the age, in a move that advocates hope will greatly reduce tobacco addiction.

“We’re not trying to go after 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds. We’re trying to reduce access for 14- and 15-year-olds,” said Bryte Johnson, director of governmental relations for American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. “Most kids in high school have friends that are seniors and 18, and that’s overwhelmingly where kids are getting access to tobacco.”

Within the last few months, Hartford, Bridgeport and South Windsor have passed local “Tobacco 21” ordinances, and Johnson said 15 other municipalities, including New Haven, are considering their own.

The proposal includes all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and vape prodicts, as well as flavored cigars.

Nadeem Sarwar, co-owner of SB Food Mart and Deli on Middletown Avenue in New Haven, said he agrees with the push to raise the age.

“It’s OK. It’s a health concern,” he said.

As far as how it might make an impact on sales, Sarwar said business tends to level out shortly after legislative changes are made. However, he said, it would make more sense for the legislation to occur at the state level, or else young smokers could go to another town to buy cigarettes.

Johnson said the Tobacco 21 initiative is ultimately hoping to affect change at the state level, and has already passed bills raising the age in six states — California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maine, Oregon and Hawaii.

“Municipalities are causing momentum at the state level,” he said.

The Tobacco 21 initiative’s supporters have introduced legislation to the Connecticut General Assembly for the last two years, and Johnson said support continues to grow.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4,900 adults in Connecticut die from smoking-related issues each year. In 2009, the CDC reported, $2 billion was spent on health care costs related to smoking in the state.

A 2014 article published in the American Journal of Public Health estimated that raising the legal tobacco purchasing age to 21 would decrease retailer and industry sales by approximately 2 percent, but could “contribute to a substantial reduction in the prevalence of youths’ tobacco use and dependency by limiting access.”

In 2012, the director of the CDC reported that 80 percent of adult smokers begin smoking by the time they are 18.

New Haven’s ordinance proposal was introduced by Alder Delphine Clyburn, D-20. A request for comment was not immediately returned Monday.

brian.zahn@hearstmediact.com