Health & Medicine
NYC Mayor Bloomberg Wants to Raise Age to Purchase Cigarettes in City to 21
Kathleen Lees
First Posted: Apr 23, 2013 01:40 PM EDT
He's tough on what really matters to New Yorkers: Soda and cigs.
Just as the soda ban, which outlawed the sale of sodas larger than 16 ounces (though it's interesting to note that the soda ban wouldn't have prevented caffeine and sugar lovers from buying the infamously famous Big Gulp, 7-Eleven drinks) was struck down by the New York Supreme Court, Bloomberg said he would hold firm in his fight against big drinks while adding on a new problem to tackle--teens and cigarettes.
What if future 18-year-olds had to wait till they were 21 to buy a pack of cigarettes?
The proposal, announced Monday by city Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley and city council Speaker Christine Quinn, is the latest in a string of attacks on Americans' vices.
Bloomberg has also proposed legislation that would require stores to keep cigarettes out of sight and hidden behind counters or in bins or closets so teens wouldn't be caught leering at boxes with camels on them and thus, tempted to indulge.
"Such displays suggest that smoking is a normal activity, and they invite young people to experiment with tobacco," Bloomberg said, according to ABC News.
We all know smoking's not good for us. In fact, we know smoking, including second-hand smoke, can even kill you. But we have to ask ourselves, why should curtailing smoking go to the top of a long list of problems?
In fact, just in February, according to New York Magazine, Bloomberg said "Nobody's sleeping on the streets," when referring to the city's homeless. According to the Coalition for the Homeless, 3,200 people as of January 2012 were homeless in NYC alone.
Just makes you wonder if we need to set our priorities straight, doesn't it?
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First Posted: Apr 23, 2013 01:40 PM EDT
He's tough on what really matters to New Yorkers: Soda and cigs.
Just as the soda ban, which outlawed the sale of sodas larger than 16 ounces (though it's interesting to note that the soda ban wouldn't have prevented caffeine and sugar lovers from buying the infamously famous Big Gulp, 7-Eleven drinks) was struck down by the New York Supreme Court, Bloomberg said he would hold firm in his fight against big drinks while adding on a new problem to tackle--teens and cigarettes.
What if future 18-year-olds had to wait till they were 21 to buy a pack of cigarettes?
The proposal, announced Monday by city Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley and city council Speaker Christine Quinn, is the latest in a string of attacks on Americans' vices.
Bloomberg has also proposed legislation that would require stores to keep cigarettes out of sight and hidden behind counters or in bins or closets so teens wouldn't be caught leering at boxes with camels on them and thus, tempted to indulge.
"Such displays suggest that smoking is a normal activity, and they invite young people to experiment with tobacco," Bloomberg said, according to ABC News.
We all know smoking's not good for us. In fact, we know smoking, including second-hand smoke, can even kill you. But we have to ask ourselves, why should curtailing smoking go to the top of a long list of problems?
In fact, just in February, according to New York Magazine, Bloomberg said "Nobody's sleeping on the streets," when referring to the city's homeless. According to the Coalition for the Homeless, 3,200 people as of January 2012 were homeless in NYC alone.
Just makes you wonder if we need to set our priorities straight, doesn't it?
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone