Daily Talker: Should Smoking Age Be Raised To 21?

Older teenagers soon won't be able to buy cigarettes in Scituate.

The town is joining others across the Commonwealth that have raised the minimum age to buy tobacco products from 18 to 21. The goal is to stop young people from becoming smokers.

"If they can't get their hands on it then hopefully they don't start," said Scituate Board of Health Chairman Russell Clark. A recent study found that people who make it to 21 without smoking have only a two percent chance of ever starting.

Brookline, Needham, and Watertown are among the other towns that have raised the age to buy cigarettes, and others are considering it.  Critics say this is a case of local government overstepping its bounds, and 18-year-olds are adults who are capable of making their own decisions.

Do you think the smoking age should be raised to 21, or should any legal adult be able to buy cigarettes? Share your comments below, and watch for them on WBZ News in the Morning between 4:30 and 7:00 am.