It was a tough sell at a public hearing last night into that proposal to raise the minimum age to buy cigarettes in San Antonio from 18 to 21, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
The Metro Health District, in a proposal to be presented to City Council last month, will argue that raising the minimum age will significantly cut down on the number of young people who get hooked on smoking.
They say the average smoker starts between 15 and 17, and at that age it is very likely that they have a friend of high school classmate who is 18 who can buy cigarettes for them, which is by far the major way that underage people get cigarettes.
Doctors say that a person that age is not very likely to have a close friend who is over 21. They also say that the developing brain is far more likely to become dependent on cigarettes when teens start smoking.
But Health Director Dr. Colleen Bridger conceded that cigarettes will still be sold to 18 year olds on at military base stores, as well as in the suburbs and in unincorporated Bexar County.
Several convenience store operators said preventing them from selling cigarettes to minor will simply prompt them to bypass their stores for the suburbs.
"When we look at the other 270 cities that have done this we know it is less than 2% of tobacco sales that go to between 18 and 20 years olds," Bridger said. "We hope that helps mitigate that concern."
But the convenience store operators said if they lose a cigarette sale, they also lose the gasoline and grocery sales that cigarette buyers also make.
Others questioned whether the City will miss out on tax revenue if it bans the sale of cigarettes to 18, 19, and 20 year olds.
"But we also anticipate in the long run significant cost savings to the city and to people who live in the city, because we all bear the costs of health care for the uninsured."
Others complained about the growing power of the government, attempting to restrict the activities of legal adults who are allowed to vote, serve in the military, and sign contracts, but are not trusted to buy certain products.
The proposal, called 'Tobacco 21' is expected to come up before City Council in December, and could be up for a vote before the end of the year.