AHA Praises Passage of Tobacco 21 Law

KINGSTON –The American Heart Association (AHA) said that by prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to anyone under the age of 21, the Ulster County Legislature has acted to save lives and improve the health of county residents. The law was signed Thursday.

“Passage of this bill will help fight chronic diseases like heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and all forms of cancer. Ulster is now the 20th county in New York who has taken this step to save lives,” said Caitlin O’Brien, AHA Government Relations Director. More than 300 localities have passed similar laws.

“Smoking is a leading risk factor for heart disease and stroke, and tonight’s vote shows that the Ulster County Legislature is committed to the health of its residents,” said O’Brien, “The American Heart Association thanks Chairman of the Legislature, Ken Ronk and the Ulster County leaders for passing this important measure, and we look forward to improved health for Ulster County residents.”

In the Hudson Valley, Orange, Rockland, Sullivan Counties and the Town of New Castle in Westchester County have passed similar legislation. AHA volunteer You’re the Cure advocates met with legislators on their May 8th Albany Lobby Day to seek support of the legislation.
“While county by county measures help, that the patchwork approach doesn’t work and all residents of NY need to be protected. The AHA is seeking a statewide change in the purchasing age of tobacco products,” O’Brien said.

According to the NYS Department of Health, 10,600 youth under 18 become new daily smokers each year, and 73,000 New York State high school students currently smoke. A March 2015 report by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies said that if a youth reaches the age of 21 without smoking, the chance of them ever doing so plummets to 2 percent.

The AHA states that this strategy is already working. In 2005, Needham, MA voted to raise and enforce the minimum tobacco sales age of 21. In 2006, before full enforcement, the town had a youth smoking rate of 13% compared with 15% in the surrounding communities. By 2010, the youth smoking rate in Needham was down to 6.7% while the surrounding communities’ rate only decreased to 12.4%. The percent decline in youth smoking in Needham was nearly triple that of its neighbors.

For more information about the American Heart Association’s You’re the Cure grassroots action network, visit www.yourethecure.org. To find free resources to quit smoking, visit www.heart.org/quitsmoking or the NYS Smoker’s Quitline at https://www.nysmokefree.com/ or 1-866-NY-QUITS.