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Push to raise smoking age in Washington state continues

Recent promises to Washington state residents that they can receive their share of tobacco setttlement money are a fraud, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

OLYMPIA, Wash. — There’s another push in Olympia to raise the smoking age in Washington state to 21.

Representative Paul Harris, a Republican out of Vancouver, has been trying to pass the bill to raise the smoking age for two years.

He argues that no good comes from smoking and those who pick up the habit between the ages of 18 and 21 are likely to continue.

“It’s very common that when kids start smoking between the ages of 18 and 21, they become more addictive actually. If they start early, it’s much more difficult for them to quit.”

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Young military hopefuls who are unable to pass the physical are often smokers, he added.

Harris says big tobacco companies target low-income people, some of which are on Medicaid. If they quit smoking, he says, the state saves money.

If Harris’ bill passes, however, it would eliminate $5 million to $6 million a year in cigarette tax revenue.

Representative Harris told Jason Rantz that he’d like to go for a full cigarette ban in the state, but acknowledges that getting the age to 21 is hard enough.

Harris says he has the votes in the House for it to pass. It could be voted on at any point this session. If it isn’t voted on, it dies.