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Making things illegal has never caused them to cease to exist. Prohibition, guns, drugs - anyone? In fact, what tends to happen is you have made the item "forbidden fruit" and it actually causes more interest than would normally be shown. You are stepping on personal freedom if you think making something illegal just because you don't do it is acceptable. Going by that logic, shouldn't we make vaccinations mandatory by law? Sure, it is for the greater good and helps other people besides the ones who don't want it but taking away someones right to make decisions on their own body (or their child's body is quite a slippery slope).

The good thing is that Millennial have caused a drastic decrease in smoking. Years of watching their parents and grandparents struggle sunk in. Great advertising targeting their age group was effective. All very positive things that should be applauded. Also, as previously stated, many young people have used vaping as a way to stop smoking. I have many friends that have used this method and they were smoke free within a month. Most did not continue with vaping which is another win.

I don't think raising the age from 18 to 21 will provide the results you want to see. Kids as young as 12 and 13 can get their hands on cigarettes. It isn't hard to do. Same for vaping. You simply won't stop young people from smoking by raising the age limit. Instead, why not continue the targeted advertisement and media blitz that has been so successful? Check the pulse of the youth before trying to chain them down by restricting their freedom. It could backfire in a big way and we could potentially see all the positive trends start to tank. One thing has been historically true. The more you try to restrict young people, the more they want to rebel.