As a teen and younger, we are seeing more and more people smoking and seeing people we look up to doing something like that has many influence. The past generations smoking tobacco has been increasing in percentages as the industry's have been bringing in younger kids in on smoking and I think raising the minimum age to 21 years of age can help. Raising the age to purchase smoking tobacco can and will help reduce cancers and even death rates because right now smoking is the single largest preventable cause of death and disease in the U.S. It also kills more than 480,000 Americans each year with more than 41,000 from exposure to secondhand smoking and that evidence not only shows that smoking is bad for your own health but its affecting everyone else around it. I'm going to statistically show you by raising the age for smoking to 21 will reduce pressure, allow time to mature, and the benefits.

Tandfonline mentioned that pressure has a big impact with smoking because there are always people you look up to. You may see them doing it and you might want to do it, like a movie star doing it on a tv show or movie. A friend could ask another friend to have one, or being exposed to it with parents or a family member. Popularity can also influence smoking because at a young age kids think what the “cool” kids do they can do and if they were to see them smoking after school they’d want to try. By the age of 21 you're out of school and don't really care what others think so they won't be influenced and at 18, kids are still going to school. Also as we grow up we start knowing more and more about health and what the bad things can do to our body so as an adult at 21 many will have a different perspective on smoking which will result in most not wanting to start. Many people don’t understand that popularity can affect this issue but it does.

With smoking most people aren't mature enough to see what smoking can do to them and I think at 18 they haven't matured enough but by 21 they should be. The average age of smoking to start is 13 years old which means kids in middle school are getting exposed to these things that get them addicted. If we were to move the age to 21 many people have matured enough to where they are smart enough to know not to start or try and at 21 you're brain is if not done matured but at 13 the brain is still going through changes and exposure could kill tones of these brain cells. In some places there are 18 year olds buying these things for younger kids and selling them to them to make more money. Recorded by the conversation in 2011, there were 40% perth shops found selling tobacco to children and only 60% didn’t. By 21 most have a job and aren’t looking for some extra fast cash and they'd be less reliant on selling them so maturity does come into effect.

There are many benefits to doing this but I have a few I think are the most important. By changing the age to 21 we would be keeping younger and newer smokers from starting, thedailybeast and idph both mentioned that nearly 90% start before the age of 18, also the age to purchase right now. I found on a cdc article that 40% of cancers diagnosed in the U.S. link to tobacco use and can result in more than lung cancer but can also cause mouth, throat, voice box, esophagus, stomach, kidney, liver, pancreas, cervix, bladder, rectum, colon and a type of leukemia. It is also said that there is a huge chance that when you graduate there is a way lower rate to become a smoker, but if we raised the age these graduates would have a long way to go before they can even purchase these products. Since the graduates have a longer way to go before they can purchase them, the likeliness of them giving them to younger kids is very low because of the fact they wouldn't be going to school or even have anything to do with them. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) performed detailed mathematical modeling of the effects of raising the smoking age to 19, 21, and 25 years. Forbes said they concluded that if the smoking age were raised to 21 “there would be approximately 223,000 fewer premature deaths, 50,000 fewer deaths from lung cancer, and 4.2 million fewer years of life lost for those born between 2000 and 2019…” These benefits are just a few out of the many and they really could change.

Smoking related illnesses in the U.S. costs more than $300 billion a year, $170 including direct medical care for adults, $156 billion in lost productivity. From dailyvaping on average one american can spend up to $2,011 a year if they were to buy a pack of cigarettes a day, and if someone were to buy 2 to 3 a day they’d spend up to $4,022 to $6,033. All of the information in this paragraph was from cdc. The percentages and ethnicities are: American indian/ Alaska Natives 31.8%, Asians 9.0%, Blacks 16.5%, Hispanics 10.7%, Multiple race 25.2%, White 16.6%. Next is the education level: Less than high school 24.1%, GED 40.6%, High school graduates 19.7%, Some college 18.9%, Associates college 16.8%, Undergraduate degree 7.7%. Next, the sex/ gender: Male 17.5%, Female 13.5%. Then we have the age groups: 18-24yrs 13.1%, 25-44yrs 17.6%, 45-64yrs 18%, 65 and older 8.8%. Lastly Income status: Below poverty level 25.3%, At or above poverty level 14.3%.
After all of the research, thinking and talking about the pressure smoking brings, growing up along with maturing, and the benefits raising the age will help prevent cancers, save lives, and lead to a way healthier life for the smoker and the people around them.