© Jon Seidel/Chicago Sun-TimesGov. J.B. Pritzker signed legislation Sunday, April 8, 2019, that will raise the buying age for nicotine products in Illinois to 21.
The new law covers tobacco and vaping products, including cigarettes, chewing tobacco, e-cigarettes and vapes. It takes effect July 1.
Pritzker signed the bill at the Mile Square Health Clinic. He was joined there by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, House Republican Leader Jim Durkin and Senate President John Cullerton, as well as chief legislative sponsors Rep. Camille Lilly and Sen. Julie Morrison.
Before signing the bill, Pritzker noted that 1.5 million more young people used e-cigarettes in 2018 than in 2016. "We're dealing with an old problem in a new form," he said.
"Many are risking a lifetime addiction before being able to make an informed choice," the governor said.
Emanuel acknowledged he has become "a zealot" on the issue, and he touted the drop in teen smoking in Chicago since the city raised the minimum age to purchase tobacco products to 21 in 2016.
Comment: A worrying declaration: Anti-smoking campaigns aren't new: The Nazis' forgotten drive to eliminate tobacco from the Reich
He offered this message to the tobacco companies: "Our kids are not part of your profit margin."
The new law is the culmination of four years of legislative efforts. The bill once made its way to then-Gov. Bruce Rauner's desk, but Rauner refused to sign the bill. Only the Senate was able to muster enough votes to overturn his veto.
This year, the bill cleared the Senate by a 39-16 vote, and the House by a vote of 82 to 31.
Opponents have said that if 18 is old enough to vote, serve on a jury, get married or draw up a will, it should be old enough to buy and smoke a cigarette.
Comment: Evidently reasoned thinking is becoming increasingly absent from lawmakers decisions, especially when it comes to nicotine. History has taught us that once particular kinds of people reach positions of power, and citizens stand idly by - or worse, cheer them on - while they target specific groups without just cause, it won't be long before they come for another group, and another, until everybody is at the mercy of their demented thinking. The fruits of the hysteria are already clear for all to see:
- UK hospital asks snitches to trigger anti-smoking alarm if people smoke outside
- UK councils conspire to ban tenants from smoking in their homes
- How my 'dead body' photo-shoot ended up on millions of tobacco products across Europe - and I don't smoke
- The epidemic of junk science in tobacco smoking research
And for information on the many benefits of tobacco smoking (for some people), see:- A comprehensive review of the many health benefits of smoking Tobacco
- 3500 year old pipe reveals Americans were smoking tobacco much earlier than previously thought
- The oldest people on Earth are all smokers!
- Pestilence, the Great Plague and the Tobacco Cure
And check out SOTT radio's: The Health & Wellness Show: The Truth about Tobacco and the Benefits of Nicotine