TOWNSHIP COMMITEE MOVES FORWARD TOWARD HIGHER CIGARETTE BUYING AGE

The Township Committee plans to hold a hearing next month to consider raising the cigarette purchasing age from 19 to 21 in Maplewood, but not without some hesitancy from two TC members.

Mayor Vic Deluca, who raised the issue at Tuesday night's TC meeting said he wanted to consider the change after reading an Op-Ed column in The Star-Ledger on Jan. 9, 2016, about the issue.

"I wanted to put this out there and sort of take the temperature of where people are at," he said Tuesday night. "I think what we ought to do is set this up for a future Township Committee meeting, let people know that we're considering this, get their input and create a conversation in the community."

Currently, the minimum age to buy cigarettes in New Jersey is 19. But at least 11 other communities have raised it to 21. The state legislature approved a 21-year-old minimum this year, but Gov. Chris Christie vetoed it in January. 

"Youth smoking rates where they have adopted this have gone down," Deluca said. "What struck me is that young people, 15-17 year olds, tend to smoke less if you jack the age up to 21."

TC Member India Larrier, who also chairs the Board of Health, agreed with the idea: "I would certainly be in favor of this. I believe we're allowed to go one step further than the state and protect our youth."

But TC Member Greg Lembrich cautioned that the higher age could hurt local businesses, while also questioning people's personal freedom once they reach 18.

"It's really just more a matter of personal freedom and whether I'd be comfortable restricting people who are adults otherwise in the eyes of the law," said Lembrich. "People who can vote, have all the other privileges of adulthood with the exception of alcohol, to cut back on that liberty is something that I would need to weigh. If I had to make a decision right now, I'd have hard time supporting it." 

"I agree with Mr. Lembrich, just pretty much everything he has said," TC Member Nancy Adams added. "I would like to get some more research on it as well." 

But Committeeman Marlon Brownlee backed the idea of a higher cigarette age: "I see no reason why I would oppose an ordinance to prohibit something that has absolutely no human benefit."

The TC will review the issue at its monthly Board of Health meeting on March 1, with a possible ordinance up for a vote on March 15.