One of the more incredible moments in the history of smoking and tobacco use in the United States came in 1994. That’s when Rep. Henry Waxman held congressional hearings on smoking, and the leaders of seven of the largest tobacco companies were asked if they believed nicotine was addictive. All seven of them said, with straight faces and in the most business-like tones, they did not believe that nicotine was addictive.

It’s worth a read for the sheer never-give-an-inch quality that seems to drive so many of our large corporations these days (www.jeffreywigand.com/7ceos.php)

Anyone who was smoking then or is smoking now, and has tried to quit, can tell you just how addictive nicotine is.

Ultimately, the courts and public officials became so convinced of the harmful impact of cigarettes and tobacco products that more than 40 of the companies agreed to compensate the states for the cost of treating tobacco-related illnesses in an arrangement that began to emerge in late 1997.

Still, tobacco companies continue to behave in ways that are harmful to communities, such as advertising to children and young people. According to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids (www.tobaccofreekids.org/research/factsheets/pdf/0008.pdf):

“Tobacco companies continue to advertise heavily at retail outlets near schools and playgrounds, with large ads and signs clearly visible from outside the stores. In fact, in 2014 tobacco companies spent over 95% ($8.7 billion) of their total advertising and promotion expenditures on strategies that facilitated retail sales... The 2014 Surgeon General Report states that ‘the tobacco industry continues to position itself to sustain its sales by recruiting youth and young adults... as consumers of all their nicotine-containing products including cigarettes.”

The Sullivan County Legislature is considering legislation that would raise the age at which it is legal to purchase cigarettes and other tobacco products from 18 to 21, and also restrict advertising. At a public hearing about the proposed law on March 16, the targeting of young people by tobacco marketers was a recurring theme.

Martin Colavito, who works with Catholic Charities, testified saying, “the tobacco industry is focused on youth because their young minds can be negatively or positively impressed upon.”

Carol Ryan, president of Health Promotion Strategies, and the former director of Sullivan County Public Health said, “Research has shown that the teenage brain is far more prone to addiction of all types than the adult brain. So the longer tobacco use can be delayed, the lower the chances that a young person will become addicted. This is exactly why cigarette manufacturers target so much advertising to youth. Remember Joe Camel?”

She said the one thing that would decrease the mortality rate the most would be to stop smoking in Sullivan County altogether—but that is not possible. So raising the age of purchasing tobacco products was a step forward.

Amanda Langseder, director of community health for Greater Hudson Valley Health, spoke about her father, who had built a retirement cabin in Yankee Lake, and who four years ago died of cancer caused by smoking.

Langseder’s 10-year-old son Fin said of his grandfather, with whom he liked to go fishing, “He tried to quit many times, but because he started so young it was hard for him.”

Nancy McGraw, the current director of Sullivan County Public Health, noted that the brains of people under the age of 25 years old are still developing, which makes them more vulnerable to addictive chemicals, and that the tobacco industry knows this and takes advantage of it by targeting individuals 18 to 25 as “replacement smokers”—replacements for older smokers who have suffered or died from diseases related to smoking.

In a sign, perhaps, of how attitudes have gradually changed about smoking and tobacco, no one took to the podium to argue that the age in Sullivan County to purchase should remain at 18.

The legislature did not vote immediately on the question, because they wanted to make some changes to the local law, including additional language to make it clear that the age limit would also apply to vaping products. But it certainly appears that the legislators will vote to pass the law next month, and we applaud them in advance for doing so.