Heading into National Non-Smoking Week, B.C.'s health minister is trying to spark a conversation about the legal age for cigarettes.
The smoking age is currently 19 in the province, as it is for most of Canada, but Terry Lake said 120 local jurisdictions in the U.S. have already increased it to 21, including the entire state of Hawaii.
"What studies show is that it delays the onset of smoking in young people," Lake told CTV News. "The longer you delay the onset of smoking, the less likely people are to smoke or to have trouble kicking the habit."
Lake also put the question out to the public on Twitter, garnering a handful of responses from either side.
"It really is just the start of a conversation," he said. "It's Terry Lake saying to British Columbians: Is this something that we should consider?"
A handful of provinces, including Alberta and Quebec, have a lower smoking age of 18.
National Non-Smoking week runs from Jan. 19 to 25, overlapping with Weedless Wednesday, which encourages smokers who are discouraged at the thought of quitting outright to consider going one day without cigarettes, on Jan. 22.
Time to consider raising the age of tobacco consumption to 21 like California, Hawaii and over 120 local jurisdictions in the US? #NNSW2017
— Terry Lake (@TerryLakeMLA) January 17, 2017
The B.C. government has been offering free smoking cessation products since 2011, and as of last January interested participants can obtain them from any pharmacist without having to pre-enroll in the program.
Hundreds of thousands of people have taken part, according to the province.
To learn more about B.C.'s smoking cessation program, click here.
