Letter: Old enough to serve, old enough to smoke

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

I am not a smoker. In fact I typically nag friends and family to stop if they smoke. I see it as a choice that they are making to damage their health that affects not only them but others around them.

After reading about our Legislature's recent effort to raise the age limit for purchasing cigarettes to 21, you might think I would be carrying the flag with them. But just the opposite is true ("Lawmakers endorse plan to hike smoking age to 21," Tribune, Nov. 20).

Our country will send men and women to war and some will give their lives for our country at the age of 18. Does it not seem counterintuitive to suggest they are not mature enough to make this simple decision?

Edward R. Blake

Salt Lake City