Some 95% of lifetime smokers pick up the habit before their 21st birthday, so Oregon lawmakers yesterday passed a law making it illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to purchase cigarettes in the hopes of nipping the bad habit in the bud. "By the age of 25, this addiction is cemented in the brain and it becomes very difficult—almost impossible—to quit," State Rep. Greg Smith, told KGW.
95%的终身烟民21岁前就开始吸烟了，因此，昨天俄勒冈州的立法机构通过了一项法案，禁止未满21岁的人吸烟，想借此将吸烟的苗头扼杀在摇篮里。众议院议员格瑞格·史密斯告诉媒体KGW：“人25岁的时候，烟瘾已经在大脑里根深蒂固了，要想戒烟几乎不可能。”
Oregon is not the first state to do this, and it probably won't be the last. No one under 21 can buy cigarettes in Hawaii, California,Oregon, Washington, D.C., and Guam to date. It also passed in New Jersey, but noted beachcomber Gov. Chris Christie vetoed the bill—although it could still become law there. According to the American Cancer Society, at least 250 localities across the country have passed similar local ordinances.
俄勒冈州不是第一个立该法的地区，也不会是最后一个。夏威夷、加利福尼亚、华盛顿、哥伦比亚特区都禁止未满21岁者吸烟，关岛立法也指日可待。新泽西州也通过了该法案，但是新泽西的州长克瑞斯·科瑞斯特，这位有名的海滨拾荒人，却反对该法案。当然，他的反对并不会阻碍法案成立。美国癌症协会称，美国至少有250个地区通过了类似的条例。
Not smoking is also a great financial move. A lifetime habit costs between $1 million and $2 million. Smoking-related costs also further overburden the health care system. According to a 2014 analysis, 8.7% of all health care spending, or $170 billion a year, is for illness caused by tobacco smoke, and public programs like Medicare and Medicaid paid for most of these costs. If Medicaid is slashed as proposed in the Republican health care plan, states could be left footing the bill, so raising the smoking age just makes good economic sense.
戒烟还能省下一大笔钱。终身吸烟将花费一百万到两百万美元。吸烟相关的开支也会增加医保体系的负担。2014年，一项分析显示，8.7%的医保支出用于治疗由吸烟引发的疾病，具体金额为每年1700亿美元，医疗保险和医疗补助这样的大众项目成为了这笔花销的“报账人”。一旦共和党关于大幅削减医疗补助的提议被采纳，政府就得填补空缺。这样看来，提高可吸烟年龄对经济来说确实是百益无害的。
