Local doctors are applauding an effort by City Council to raise the age for buying cigarettes from 18 to 21, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
The City Council's Community Health and Equitey Committee, will take up the issue, called 'Tobacco 21,' at a hearing tomorrow. It is expected to come before the full council for a decision before the end of the year.
Dr. Steven Kalter, an oncologist at San Antonio's START Cancer center, says it will clearly make it harder for teenagers to buy cigarettes.
"Starting early is what seems to be the biggest problem, and this is a very addicting problem," Kalter said.
The argument is that the vast majority to young people who take up smoking, and between 15 and 17 is the most common age for a person to start the habit, are likely to have high school classmates or friends who are 18 and can buy them cigarettes. It is far less likely that the 15 year old will have a friend who is 21.
If a person has not started smoking by age 21, there is a less than 1% chance that they ever will start.
Dr. Kalter, who is an oncologist, says in addition to lung cancer, which is the singer most common type of cancer in the United States, smoking also leads to a wide variety of cancers, from esophogeal cancer, to stomach, liver, bladder and kidney cancer.
And he says the real problems begin when a person starts smoking, regardless of whether they are able to quit later on.
He says he sees this in his medical practice every day.
"These individuals have stopped smoking five or ten yeas ago, but they may have stopped smoking for many years before," he said. "The risk does not end when you stop smoking."
When asked if smoking is the single most dangerous thing a person can do to their health, Dr. Kalter answered unquestioningly, 'without a doubt.'