The legal age to purchase and use tobacco in Oregon would rise from 18 to 21 under a measure under consideration in the state Legislature.
High school senior Mason Thurman speaks at a state capitol press conference in Salem on behalf of a bill that would raise the legal limit to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21.
Chris Lehman / OPB
A similar measure is under consideration in Washington state this year.
Supporters of the measures say it would make it harder to teens to get hold of the cancer-causing substance. Doing so would also take the pressure off older teens who are sometimes asked to buy cigarettes on behalf of their younger friends.
Mason Thurman, a senior at Valley Catholic High School in Beaverton, said one of his closest friends starting smoking at age 15.
"Because I'm 18, him and some of his fellow other peers, they ask me every day if I can give them tobacco," said Thurman, who spoke at a state Capitol press conference. "And I always say 'no' and then they continue to bribe me. They try to give me money to try to peer pressure me or bully me into doing it."
Violators of the Oregon measure would face civil, not criminal, penalties. One of the bill's sponsors, Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Steiner-Hayward, said that is a conscious decision.
"This is not a criminal issue. This is an education issue," she said. "People under 21 caught in possession of these substances will simply have them confiscated and they'll be destroyed."
Store clerks and store owners would face civil penalties such as fines. That's already true for sales of tobacco to people under 18.
A similar proposal came before the Oregon Legislature in 2015 but never made it out of committee. This year's measure does have some bipartisan support.
Republican Rep. Richard Vial is also sponsoring the bill.
"Often, those of us who are considered perhaps more conservative legislators hear that we don't want a nanny state, that we don't want over-regulation of our lives," said Vial. "But to me, this is very much like seat belts and child restraints, those things that really do contribute to society that we all feel good about."
The Oregon legislation is backed by a coalition of public health groups, including the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association and the American Cancer Society. Similar coalitions were behind the successful efforts to raise the smoking age in California and Hawaii, which are currently the only states with a tobacco age limit of 21. Some local municipalities around the country have raised the limit, too.
In Oregon, the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners considered a proposal last year to raise the tobacco age limit in the county. Commissioners decided to wait to see if the state Legislature would act.
In Lane County, commissioners are moving forward with a plan to raise the age limit. The proposal will be the subject of a hearing there later this month.