On March 2, 2015 the Ohio State University, College of Public Health released a white paper “Running the Numbers” concerning increasing the age of sale for tobacco products to 21. The paper, which was co-authored by Dr. Robert Crane, was crafted for a local focus and is intended to be used by communities and groups interested in increasing the age of sale for tobacco products. These were the findings from the paper:

• One in five students will die from tobacco use if current trends continue.
• Cancer and other smoking-related diseases are more common in people who started smoking as teens.
• Nearly all smokers start by 18 and the brain is more susceptible to addiction at that age.
• There is a significant link between infant mortality and teen smoking.
• Raising the minimum age to 21 can stop social pressure to smoke as a teenager and worked in reducing alcohol use by youth.
• Needham, MA reported a 62% drop in frequent tobacco use and an almost 50% drop in current smoking rates among high school students from such a policy.

Read more about this paper in the press release.