Jefferson City Council members are considering a proposal to increase the legal minimum age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21.
At the Council Committee on Administration meeting Wednesday, members of the Council for Drug Free Youth presented a smoke-free youth bill aimed at increasing the age to purchase tobacco from 18 to 21 within Jefferson City limits. Several other Missouri cities have passed similar laws, including Kansas City, Independence, Grandview, Gladstone and Columbia, which passed a similar law in 2014. California and Hawaii are the only two states to make the change at the state level.
In the presentation, Council for Drug Free Youth representatives said the proposed change would help decrease smoking in those ages 15 to 17 by 25 percent and cited Needham, Massachusetts, which was the first city to adopt the change, as having seen a 50 percent reduction in smoking in that age group.
Audrey Shinkle, a former Jefferson City High School student who now studies at Truman State University, said she often saw students use chewing tobacco during classes in high school, noting it's not hard for those under 18 to get tobacco when other students can legally purchase it.
"A lot of these people were 17," Shinkle said. "People don't think it's a big deal."
Shinkle said in high schools now, the issue is more about e-cigarettes. She said her younger brother is 16 and some teenagers that age are using e-cigarettes for both tobacco and marijuana.
Stan Cowan, who is retired from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, said when Columbia began discussing increasing the age to purchase tobacco, those opposed said it would decrease city sales tax revenue and hurt Columbia businesses. Cowan said those concerns were unfounded as statewide tobacco sales are .09 percent of all retail sales.
"This is just a drop in the bucket," Cowan said.
Cowan said, by using a formula based on Jefferson City's population and other estimates, if the change is approved, it could save 100 lives in Jefferson City within 10 years after being enacted.
The committee opted not to make any decisions on the proposed bill but deferred the issue to the Public Safety Committee as the police would take on primary enforcement.
Third Ward Councilwoman Erin Wiseman asked whether the group would consider an initiative petition to put the issue on the ballot, but Cowan said it's not a method they would prefer.
"It is very time intensive, and there is a cost involved," Cowan said of the initiative petition process, noting no other community has made the decision by a public vote.