Another Reason NY Sucks: Smoking Age Raised to 21.

New York sucks for so many reasons, here’s one more:

Buying cigarettes in New York City is about to become a lot harder for young people, as lawmakers on Wednesday adopted the strictest limits on tobacco purchases of any major American city.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/31/nyregion/new-york-approves-law-to-raise-tobacco-purchasing-age-to-21.html?_r=0

Yes, young people who are old enough to serve in the military and die for their country. Young people old enough to vote for assholes who don’t respect them. Are those the “young people” you’re trying to protect?

The legal age for buying tobacco, including cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, cigars and cigarillos will rise to 21, from 18, under a bill adopted by the City Council and which Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has said he would sign. The new minimum age will take effect six months after signing.

Even electronic cigarettes, some of which have 0% nicotine. Talk about outlawing harmless water vapor, idiots.

The proposal provoked some protest among people who pointed out that New Yorkers under 21 can drive, vote and fight in wars, and should be considered mature enough to decide whether to buy cigarettes. But the Bloomberg administration’s argument — that raising the age to buy cigarettes would discourage people from becoming addicted in the first place — won the day.

Then why did you voted for Obama and Bloomberg? Why do you vote for people that treat you like children? I’m not saying Republicans always do the right thing, but they never go that far.

“This is literally legislation that will save lives,” Christine C. Quinn, the Council speaker, said shortly before the bill passed 35 to 10.

In pushing the bill, city officials said that the earlier people began smoking, the more likely they were to become addicted. And they pointed out that while the youth smoking rate in the city has declined by more than half since the beginning of the mayor’s administration, to 8.5 percent in 2007 from 17.6 percent in 2001, it has recently stalled.

Oh yes, the ultimate excuse, “it’s about saving lives people, so never mind your rights, your life belongs to us.”  These people see ourselves as our masters and us as their slaves. Sure, smoking has declined, but tobacco-smuggling has increased.

In one concession to the cigarette industry, the administration dropped a proposal that would force retailers to keep cigarettes out of sight. City officials said they were doing it because they had not resolved how to deal with the new phenomenon of electronic cigarettes, but others worried that if the tobacco industry lodged a First Amendment challenge to the so-called display ban, it could have derailed the entire package.

Yeah well, “Big Tobacco” is looking pretty small to me right now. Maybe if they actually FOUGHT for smokers the way the NRA fights for gun owners, they might have a few victories. The issue isn’t about health, it’s about CHOICE.

James Calvin, president of the New York Association of Convenience Stores, warned on Wednesday that thousands of retail jobs could be lost because the law would reduce traffic not just for tobacco, but also on incidental purchases like coffee or lottery tickets. He predicted that the law would do little to curb smoking, as it does not outlaw the possession of cigarettes by under-age smokers, only their purchase.

What you expect, James? This is a city of socialists, they don’t give a crap about convenience stores, they don’t work for you, you work for them.

Frankly, I’m glad I don’t smoke anymore, I gave it up after realizing that “Big Tobacco” doesn’t fight for me and my cigarette taxes were funding anti-smoking commercials. But unlike former smokers who become freedom-hating Nazis, I still believe in the individual and his freedom to make his own choices.