On Jan. 1, 2016, the state of Hawaii implemented a new law increasing the age required to purchase cigarettes from 18 to 21. This law is beneficial because it will reduce the number of Hawaii residents suffering from diseases caused by tobacco and will eliminate unnecessary deaths caused by these diseases. The rest of the U.S. should follow this law because this would increase the difficulty for younger citizens to get their hands on cigarettes and electronic cigarettes, therefore preventing under-aged citizens from developing an unhealthy addiction and decreasing the future number of adults dying from smoking-related diseases.

The new law takes several measures to ensure that underage citizens are withheld from purchasing tobacco. With this new legislation, the police will fine both the store caught selling tobacco products to anyone under the age of 21 as well as any minor caught purchasing the product. In addition to the fine, the law requires minors to complete a certain number of community service hours. These measures will successfully reduce minors’ access to tobacco and decrease the negative impacts of tobacco use.

“This law will make cigarettes less accessible and less attractive to Hawaii’s youth,” said administrator with the Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Division of the Hawaii Department of Health Lola Irvin.

The law not only applies to traditional cigarettes, but to electronic cigarettes as well. This is extremely important due to the rise in electronic cigarette usage by teenagers, as electronic cigarettes and “vaping” act as gateways to smoking. Since the usage of non-traditional forms of tobacco have become so prevalent in today’s youth, the lawmakers are very wise in ensuring that the new tobacco law covers all forms of smoking.

While Hawaii is the first state to increase the smoking age from 18 to 21, many cities including Boston and New York have increased the age as well. Needham, Mass. serves as an example of the benefits of raising the smoking age. This town raised the smoking age to 21 in 2005, and one decade later the percentage of adults smoking in this town was 50 percent lower than that of the rest of the state. Implementing this law nationwide would effectively reduce the number of adults addicted to smoking, so this law should be implemented nationwide.

According to the Department of Health, 14,000 people per year in Hawaii die from the effects of first or second hand smoke. The hope for this law is that a large percentage of these unnecessary deaths will be eliminated over the next several years. Raising the smoking age will help to bypass the vulnerable age in which adolescents experiment and become addicted. This law will improve the health of Hawaii’s citizens, and the rest of America should follow suit. If other states follow in the footsteps of Hawaii, the health of all American citizens will improve.