• Otter@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    Setting age limits on substance use is a little different from criminalizing possession/use. In the case of smoking, it has helped reduce rates. This is something backed by people working in public health, who also support decriminalization for possession and bringing in safe consumption sites. It’s all about finding the right approach for an issue.

    I’d rather focus on calling out the OTHER bad stuff his government is doing, instead of turning this one partisan based on which party introduced it

    • Bumblefumble@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      It’s not really an age limit when you’ll never reach it, it’s just gradual criminalization.

      • wolfpack86@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        That’s not true. It’s a ban on the sale not possession or consumption. The end user is not being criminalized.

        Theoretically there’s nothing stopping from importation (barring implementation of another law).

    • SupraMario@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Raising age limits on smoking has not reduced rates, making tobacco use taboo in society and knowing how dangerous it is for you has. In the US like 9% use any form of tobacco (which it’s more likely around 7% or less because they include people who have smoked in their lives and quit as well). At this point no one is really smoking… going after tobacco still is just stupid.

          • SCB@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            That’s smoking, not tobacco products use. Vaping, for instance, is its own category.

            Tobacco use includes more options, so the numbers will be higher

            • SupraMario@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              Not really, cigar and pipe tobacco smokers are a rounding error against the population…nasal snuff users even less. Vaping is only added to pad the numbers. Let’s get real here, cigarette smokers are what is being effected, not other forms of tobacco use which are basically non existent.

              • SCB@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                By “pad the numbers” you mean “accurately reflect reality?”

                I am aware that cigarette smokers are who is affected by this policy but that is not the discussion at hand.

                Also raising age limits did reduce smoking rates, but also neither here nor there as this policy is not strictly about raising age to purchase but effectively forming a generational cutoff.

                Sunak is really reaching here, to say the least, but the data is the data. It’s not worth trying to ignore reality.

                https://health.ucdavis.edu/news/headlines/is-raising-the-sales-age-of-tobacco-reducing-youth-smoking/2021/04

                • SupraMario@lemmy.world
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                  1 year ago

                  https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28850065/

                  ASH surveys showed a rise in the prevalence of ever use of e-cigarettes from 7% (2016) to 11% (2017) but prevalence of regular use did not change remaining at 1%. In summary, surveys across the UK show a consistent pattern: most e-cigarette experimentation does not turn into regular use, and levels of regular use in young people who have never smoked remain very low.

                  Kids smoking are at an all time high and so is vaping. Raising the age limit didn’t do anything to help reduce this, because kids haven’t been allowed to smoke for decades now.

                  Also, this is literally in your link:

                  While it may be surprising that the new T21 law didn’t reduce cigarette smoking across all types of smoking behavior,** explanations include pre-existing declines in smoking nationwide, **enforcement challenges at the state level, increased use of other products (e-cigarettes and marijuana), definitions of smokers in the study, sales outside of retail stores and other tobacco control policies.

                  Crazy thought… people aren’t smoking anymore. No wonder it’s in decline…

                  • SCB@lemmy.world
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                    1 year ago

                    I love how you quote things in my link that mean the opposite of what you think they mean lol

      • RazorsLedge@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        https://publications.aap.org/aapnews/news/7995/CDC-reports-confirm-benefits-of-raising-tobacco?autologincheck=redirected

        reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found people who started smoking before age 21 are more likely to have a high nicotine dependence, and raising the age to buy tobacco to 21 impacts the sale of such products.

        found average monthly cigarette sales in Hawaii dropped about 4.4% following the new law. California sales declined 11.7%, and mainland sales dropped 10.6%.