New York City is raising the legal age to purchase tobacco products to 21, but Florida law is keeping Gainesville from setting its sights on similar legislation.
New York City’s City Council adopted the bill last Wednesday, and it will go into effect six months after Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg signs it. The limitations include all tobacco products, as well as electronic cigarettes.
Andrew Romero, a staff member of Tobacco Free Alachua, said the 1985 Florida Clean Indoor Air Act prevents more stringent restrictions on smoking at the municipal level.
Romero, also a health policy specialist for the Alachua County Health Department, said the act prevents smoking in a workplace — but that leaves plenty of other places where smoking is legal.
“Let’s just say Gainesville wanted to restrict smoking in bars,” he said. “They actually can’t.”
He said some Florida municipalities sought to ban smoking on beaches littered with cigarette butts, but they ran into trouble with the act blocking legislation.
“Basically, all these communities find themselves stuck trying to clean up their towns or beaches,” he said.
As a result of this legislative roadblock, Gainesville has no policy in motion to raise the legal age to purchase tobacco, he said.
Noble Nolen, an 18-year-old UF exploratory freshman, said because she is asthmatic, she would rather her peers not use tobacco at all but does not think banning the products from young adults would do much to solve the problem.
“People under 21 will either just leave the city or seek illegal methods to obtain tobacco,” Nolen said.
Nolen said she feels higher taxes on tobacco products would be a more effective method to decrease the use of tobacco.
Increasing the minimum age to purchase tobacco products in Florida is unlikely, and electronic cigarettes remain unregulated in Gainesville.
According to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the percentage of high school and middle school students using e-cigarettes has more than doubled, with an estimated 1.78 million students having tried them in 2012.
Romero said there are initiatives in motion locally to regulate e-cigarettes like traditional cigarettes, with a minimum purchase age of 18.
Regardless of Gainesville’s stance on either product, UF policy still prohibits students from using both e-cigarettes and tobacco products on campus.
Florida Bridgewater-Alford, UF campus communications outreach director, said the ban was instituted after a Student Government referendum for a smoke-free campus was supported by 64 percent of nearly 10,000 votes.
Although the ban earned a majority vote from students, some are unhappy about the lack of freedom to smoke on campus.
Matt Libanoff, a 20-year-old UF advertising junior, said he understands the ban is for ecological and health reasons but said it feels a little unnecessary.
Libanoff said he enjoyed occasionally smoking on campus up until the anti-smoking signs came up.
“It was just part of my walk-to-class routine,” he said.
Nesha Robbins contributed to this report. A version of this story ran on page 1 on 11/6/2013 under the headline "Cigarette purchasing age likely to stay steady locally"
New York City’s City Council adopted a bill Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2013, to raise the legal age to purchase tobacco products to 21. Florida law made it difficult for Gainesville to adopt similar limitations.
