Louisiana lawmakers defeated a measure in the recent session aimed at increasing the age to legally smoke in the state, but it could be changing nationwide.
Congress is now considering a bill to raise the smoking age to 21 from 18, with a bipartisan group of lawmakers leading the charge.
Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, a doctor, backs the age increase.
He says it will save lives, but know it is not going to stop everyone under 21 from smoking.
“I’m not naive, kids are going to sneak cigarette, but if you can make it more difficult then you can make it less likely to happen, and fewer kids smoking.”
Cassidy says it's been interesting to see which leaders are onboard with the change, including the Senate majority leader.
“I think that it is interesting that Mitch McConnell, who is from a tobacco producing state, and I think that it is reasonable.”
McConnell is being joined by Virginia Senator Tim Kaine, who was Hillary Clinton’s Vice President pick in 2016.
The tobacco age increase is part of a large healthcare bill that cleared a US Senate committee 20-3, and the legislation is expected to see the floor within the next month.
Cassidy says passing this law may keep young people from developing an addiction early in their adulthood.
“It changes the brain, it gets the brain wanting to have more nicotine, and that is particularly true when someone starts smoking at an earlier age.”
The CDC estimates that 22.8 percent of Louisiana adults are smokers, and studies have shown a significant majority of those adult smokers took up the habit before they turned 21.