Raising the legal age

A mayor of a Northwest suburb recently said that he wanted to outlaw tobacco sales. I am not going to research the subject, but I am going to guess that tobacco has been legal to buy and sell in the area ever since there have been people to buy and sell it. History has taught us, or at least some of us, that outlawing things that have been legal for let's say a century or forever only causes trouble. Apparently, the mayor realized that his idea was less than a good one, but now he wants to raise the legal age to purchase tobacco from 18 to 21. That change has already taken place in some other Illinois cities and villages, such as Chicago.

Aside from the fact that 18-year-olds have always been able to buy tobacco, I think that there is another problem. The problem is that men and women from ages 18 to 20 can legally fight in wars. They can be maimed or killed. They can maim or kill. So, how about raising the age requirements for fighting in wars too? Well, I already know what the answer is to that. Anyway, it is too bad that the legal age for being able to fight in wars isn't something like 30 or 40.

John H. Olsen

Palatine