Texas Could Soon Raise the Smoking Age to 21
A group called Texas 21 is trying to raise the smoking age in Texas to 21 years of age. The group is made up of many different groups including UT Tyler, UT Health, Christus Health and many other health groups. The idea is that if you raise the smoking age then you can prevent people from starting to smoke. According to Texas 21 95% of smokers started before they were 21 years old.
Longview News Journal reports that Mary Jackson from Christus Health said “We are trying to delay the ability of teenagers to buy tobacco products. We are not prohibiting people from buying tobacco products.” The group recently held a conference in Tyler bringing healthcare professionals together and are hoping to see changes to the smoking age in 2019. This movement isn't a new one for Texas but has seen a lot of movement and talk recently.
For more information on Texas 21 and what they're trying to change check out their website.