B.C.’s Health Minister suggests raising legal smoking age to 21

Is it time to raise B.C.’s legal smoking age to 21?

That’s the question Health Minister Terry Lake is pondering during Canada’s National Non-Smoking Week.

The current legal smoking age in B.C. is 19.

The legal age to purchase tobacco in most Canadian provinces is 19 with the exception of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Quebec. However, many jurisdictions in the United States have already raised the legal smoking age to 21.

California is one of those jurisdictions, which raised the legal age to 21 last year.

Hawaii was the first state to raise the legal smoking age to 21 and in less than a year officials said the adult smoking rate dropped 17 per cent in the past 10 years to one of the lowest in the country.

The B.C. Cancer Agency cites a report in the National Academics of Science, Engineering and Medicine, saying raising the minimum legal age to 21 means those who can legally buy tobacco are less likely to be in the same social networks as high school students, meaning tobacco access for those in that age group will be less.

According to the B.C. Government, tobacco-related illness is the leading cause of preventable death in B.C.

Tobacco kills up to 6,000 people in B.C. every year, more than motor vehicle deaths, murder, suicide and HIV/AIDS combined (Selected Vital Statistics and Health Status Indicators, Annual Report 2011, Vital Statistics Agency).

Health care costs for treatment of tobacco-related illnesses are estimated in Canada to reach $2.3 billion each year.