Two Western states with some of America’s lowest smoking rates are considering cracking down even more by raising the tobacco age to 21.

Utah and Colorado lawmakers both voted favourably on proposals yesterday to treat tobacco like alcohol and take it away from 18- to 20-year-olds, a move inspired by new research on how many smokers start the habit as teenagers.

Both proposals face several more votes. But they’re the furthest any states have gone to curb access to cigarettes by teens. The director of tobacco studies at University College London didn’t know of any other countries considering a tobacco age threshold of 21, but he said raising the tobacco age from 16 to 18 in the UK proved to be “a public health winner.”

Altria Group Inc, owner of the biggest US cigarette company, Philip Morris USA, did not immediately provide comment.

A paper published last year in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine said that 9 out of 10 daily smokers in the US have their first cigarette by 18 years of age, and that about 90 per cent of cigarettes purchased for minors are obtained by people between 18 and 20 years old.

The Washington-based Campaign For Tobacco-Free Kids advocates the higher smoking age and argues that it could make a serious dent in tobacco deaths down the road.

Armando Peruga, programme manager of the World Health Organisation’s Tobacco Free Initiative, said he supported the US proposal, provided that it would be strictly enforced and that it was accompanied by other tobacco control measures, such as high taxes and smoke-free regulations.

“It needs to be part of a comprehensive policy to counter the tobacco industry’s influence on young people,” Peruga said.

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