(The Center Square) – Those born after Dec. 31, 2004 may never purchase a cigarette in the Silver State if Nevada Assembly Bill 279 is passed.
Or at least, that would be the case if it were not for the bill’s gambling loophole.
AB 279 bans the sale of cigarettes to those born after Dec. 31, 2004, unless the sale is made at a casino. The bill would also ban any vapes not approved for sale by the federal government.
“This bill is designed to prevent young Nevadans from ever taking up and becoming addicted to cigarettes,” said Assemblymember David Orentlicher, D-Clark County, the bill’s primary sponsor and a graduate of Harvard Medical School, at the Assembly Revenue Committee meeting on April 1. “Under this bill, the minimum age to buy cigarettes will rise by one year every year. Twenty-one today, 22 next year, 31 in 10 years.”
But the question is whether this would simply mean more foot traffic for casinos, which would keep the 21-year-old limit for cigarette purchases.
Proponents argue the bill would discourage smoking despite the casino loophole.
“I think some proportion of people who are determined to get cigarettes will certainly go to casinos,” said Jennifer Pearson, a public health associate professor at University of Nevada, Reno, at the Assembly hearing. But she added, “Young people are growing up in a society where smoking cigarettes is becoming less and less normalized … It’s really going to be a lot of barriers to them, and most people are going to take the easy way, which is, they’re not going to smoke, or if they’re determined to get nicotine, they’re going to use the lower harm forms like e-cigarettes and nicotine pouches.”
Cigarettes have responsible for nearly 500,000 deaths in the U.S. per year – more than double drug overdoses, gunshots and traffic collisions combined, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Cigar Association of America and the Energy and Convenience Association of Nevada argued the ban was too extreme because of the decline in smoking rates among young people, as reported by News 3 LV.
Those pushing for the bill argued a tobacco ban was not as extreme as it may sound.
“At least 15 other governments have set endgame goals, including the U.S.,” said Chris Bostic from the Action on Smoking and Health Organization. “Tobacco endgame is not radical but rational. What is radical is that we have allowed the tobacco industry to sell a product that addicts and kills its consumers when used exactly as intended. No other industry gets to do this.”
Besides the health benefits, AB 279 will save money, Pearson noted.
“Smoking directly causes $1.25 billion in annual health care costs for Nevada,” she said. “The portion of these costs covered by the state’s Medicaid program totals $160.1 million. This is contrasted to a projected 2025 income from cigarette excise taxes of roughly $113 million.”
The Assembly meeting closed with no vote on the bill.
