Smoking is a controversial topic, and from a young age, people are told to avoid cigarettes by their parents and teachers. Even so, it still came as a surprise for California citizens on May 4, when Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill that raised the age of smoking. Previously, one had to be 18 years old to purchase tobacco and smoke, but now that has been raised to 21 years of age. On June 9, the bill will go into effect and Americans will see how successful it is. Until then, anyone 18 years old to 20 years old is able to purchase and use tobacco, just as it was before the bill was signed.

“We stand to disrupt the chain of adolescent addiction,” said Edward Hernandez, a California State Senator. By raising the age to buy tobacco, young adults will have an extra few years to mature and realize the negative effects of smoking, including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and infertility, according to Healthline.

Of course people under 18 years of age will still find a way to obtain tobacco, but it will become more difficult. In addition, 18-20 year olds now run the risk of getting fined for smoking, so perhaps this will stop their bad habit. I believe that there will still be people who illegally smoke, but a lot of 18 year olds will be forced to give it up.

Tobacco companies will lose business to former customers when the bill goes into effect, but I see this as a good thing. Cigarettes only cause harm and if their production was stopped it would be advantageous to our society.

Assuming the bill is effective in preventing adolescent addiction to tobacco, this will be beneficial, seeing as how tobacco use is the largest preventable cause of death and disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 480,000 Americans die each year because of cigarette smoking, and because the age to use tobacco has been increased, this number should hopefully be lowered.