U.S. State Aims to Raise Smoking Age to 21

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, June 04, 2002

U.S. State Aims to Raise Smoking Age to 21

In a bid to curb smoking among teenagers, a lawmaker of the U.S. state of California introduced a bill Monday to raise the legal smoking age from 18 to 21.

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In a bid to curb smoking among teenagers, a lawmaker of the U.S. state of California introduced a bill Monday to raise the legal smoking age from 18 to 21.

The bill, initialed by state Assemblyman Paul Koretz, will makethe legal smoking age the highest in the United States. All 50 U.S.states set a minimum age of at least 18 following a directive fromCongress in 1992. In three states -- Alabama, Alaska and Utah -- the legal smoking age is set at 19.

Koretz said his goal of introducing the bill is to cut smoking rates among kids in their teens, the age when most smokers pick upthe smoking habit.

The American Lung Association estimated that about 90 percent of all smokers begin smoking before age 21 in the U.S., where about 400,000 people die every year from diseases related to tobacco.

The U.S. largest tobacco company, Philip Morris, remain neutralon such bill, arguing that it believes enforcing existing laws isa better approach to curbing teenage smoking.

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