Editorial: Naperville takes important step to reduce teenage smoking

Symbolic effort with no lasting effect or first step in reducing the chances teens will make a bad choice?

In our view, either way is a win-win for the city of Naperville, where the city council decided this week to raise the age to buy tobacco to 21.

It's a move that if only symbolic, lets everyone know that Naperville cares about the health of its young people. And, by joining Chicago, Evanston and Oak Park, it tells state officials in Springfield there is support for raising the age statewide.

But we believe, as supporters of this new law do, that raising the age will have a positive effect on teens and smoking over time. If they don't start smoking that young, they may resist any urge to do so over their lifetime.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, tobacco use is started and established primarily during adolescence. Nearly nine out of 10 cigarette smokers first tried smoking by age 18.

And while cigarette smoking for high school-age teens declined in the United States between 2011 and 2015, use of electronic cigarettes increased.

Naperville will phase in the higher age limit for buying tobacco - starting Jan. 1 for cigarettes and other tobacco and in 2018 for alternatives like e-cigs.

The CDC recommends the higher age limit as one way to reduce youth tobacco use. We don't buy the argument - as put forth by some Naperville council members - that because this age group can vote or join the Army, they shouldn't be stopped if they want to buy tobacco. The same argument has been put forth for years unsuccessfully and unconvincingly about buying and drinking alcohol.

Certainly, without a uniform state policy, it will be fairly easy for 18- to 21-year-olds to go next door in Lisle or Aurora, for example, to purchase smokes. But if it discourages just one retail outfit from bending the rules to sell to a high school student who may look 18, then it's been a success.

No one in this age group will be arrested if caught smoking, but a retailer will be fined if caught breaking the law.

And how will this kind of law be measured?

Over time. Cigarette smoking is the No. 1 preventable cause of death in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society. Half of all those who continue to smoke will die from a smoking-related illness.

It's a battle long waged with a long way to go. Naperville is doing its part to help, and other communities - and the state - should follow.