Ban Sales of Tobacco to Those Under 18, Federal Report Proposes

The federal government, in its report to Congress on smoking and the nation’s health, recommended Thursday that all states ban the sale of tobacco to anyone under age 18.

Otis R. Bowen, secretary of health and human services, said that nationwide enforcement of laws keeping cigarettes out of young people’s hands “could have a strong preventive effect” toward stopping them from smoking.

30% of Americans Smoke

The study, mandated under the Comprehensive Smoking Education Act, enacted by Congress in 1984, found that 30% of Americans smoke, with rates now only slightly higher among men than women.

That is a sharp change since 1964, when the U.S. surgeon general first warned of the health hazards of smoking. In the mid-1960s, 45% of Americans smoked, and male smokers significantly outnumbered female smokers. Since then, more than 36 million people reportedly have quit.

The report, issued on the same day that anti-smoking forces held the annual nationwide “Great American Smokeout,” said also that teen-age smoking has dropped sharply.

“The report contains both good news and bad news,” said Alan Davis, a spokesman for the Coalition on Smoking or Health. “The good news is that smoking rates in America are at their lowest level in 40 years. The bad news is that 30% of Americans still smoke, and that 90% of these smokers are starting as children and teen-agers.”

Fewer School Seniors Smoke

A study of high school seniors found that 30% of the girls and 25% of the boys in the 1977 senior class reported daily smoking. By 1984, the percentages had dropped to 20% of the girls and 16% of the boys.

The report, distributed by the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control, asserted that smoking is “the single most preventable cause of death in our society and the most important public health issue of our time.”

Despite the millions who have quit over the last two decades, more than 50 million Americans smoke. Smoking will kill more than 300,000 people this year through heart disease, cancer and other diseases, the report said.

It noted that 12 states do not limit sales of cigarettes and 14 others set the age for purchase lower than 18.

‘Help Alleviate Problem’

“Restrictions on sales of tobacco to minors will help alleviate the problem,” said Tim Hensley of the health department’s Office on Smoking and Health, based in Bethesda, Md.

Although conceding that young people “can get their hands on it if they want to,” he said restrictions would be a first step.

“Virtually all” people who smoke took up the habit as teen-agers, the report said.

It noted also that, despite the proliferation of research programs and smoking clinics in the last two decades, more than 90% of the Americans who stopped smoking did so on their own.