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Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has proposed raising taxes on tobacco and raising the minimum age for purchasing tobacco to 21.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel proposed a new plan to raise the minimum age for purchasing tobacco in mid-January, sparking discussion concerning what the effects of such a policy might be.

The plan includes sharp tax increases on many types of tobacco, including cigars and smokeless tobacco, as well as raising the minimum age to 21.

The Chicago Finance Committee originally passed the plan before several aldermen blocked the full council vote until the March meeting, hoping that the delay would allow enough time to convince other members to vote no on the ordinance, according to the Chicago Tribune.

In 2015, the Institute of Medicine in Washington, D.C. released a study containing strong evidence that delaying the age at which tobacco is first used correlates with an increased likelihood that the habit will be dropped. In the study, almost 90 percent of adult smokers claimed to have started smoking before the age of 19.

Perhaps in an effort to protect other youth from becoming addicted, a Centers for Disease Control study showed that 70 percent of adult smokers would support raising the minimum purchasing age to 21.

Sarah Wright, a Community Health Specialist for the Lake County Health Department, explained the addiction that often accompanies the start of cigarette use.

“With tobacco use, it’s not necessarily like people are saying ‘I’m going to become a smoker.’ It’s more like people think, ‘I’m hanging out, maybe I’ll have a cigarette to see what it’s like.’ And then they become a part of this cycle of addiction, and I think you are better able at 21 to not [be fooled by] that idea of ‘I’ll just try it once and hope that it won’t affect me later,’” she explained.

Chicago may have decided to propose this plan after seeing similar policies implemented in other cities. Even more notably, Hawaii is the first state to have raised the minimum age. Because of its relative isolation as an island, this policy may be more effective than in the contiguous United States because people cannot just cross a border to purchase tobacco.

Looking at the results of how tobacco usage has lowered for Hawaii prompted many states to try a similar tactic.

According to the Chicago Tribune, more than 100 cities have already raised their age limits for buying tobacco to 21, including Evanston, which is only about 25 miles away from Libertyville. However, these cities face the high likelihood that under-21 tobacco-seekers will quickly go to the next township over to purchase their tobacco.

As more cities hop onto the effort to raise the purchasing age, the effort may spread as it did for Smoke Free Illinois in 2008.

“With Smoke Free Illinois, it had started actually in California. California had decided that none of their restaurants or businesses would allow individuals to smoke inside,” Wright explained. “And we had evidence that that actually reduced that amount of people that were smoking, and it reduced the amount of harms… because of smoking in that environment. And that’s how it once again caught momentum and moved on to other states.”

So perhaps as cities move in a similar grassroots effort, this policy will take hold across the state and the nation as well.

While these policies float through the country, another smoking habit seems to be picking up speed with the government. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, marijuana, a more common recreational drug today for teenagers than cigarettes, has many supporters attempting to legalize the drug for recreational purposes rather than just for medicinal uses.

LHS Prevention and Wellness Coordinator Dr. Brenda Nelson spoke on this politically contentious topic.

“It is ironic. There’s just a lot more research on the effects of tobacco,” Nelson said. “I feel like, though, it’s a very different conversation when you’re talking about the teenage brain and you’re talking about adult use of, well, really anything. Just because [the adolescent years are] such an incredible period of brain development and such an opportunity to be free and clear of any interfering substances. Kids are doing themselves so many favors if they can just treasure the brain,” she implored.