Unlike the freshly minted local laws in search of a problem that target such benign transgressions as loud car stereos and playing with laser pointers, the council's passage of a measure making it illegal for minors to buy or possess tobacco is a good law that attacks a real problem. There's no need to rehash here the long list of health issues related to smoking and other tobacco use.
Tobacco use causes cancer and any other number of diseases.
Plus, smoking is addictive. The council has put into place a law that will help protect easily influenced minors from the ravages of tobacco products. By outlawing tobacco's attempted purchase by people under 18, the law makes it easy for store clerks to call police and report the under-aged. For clerks who choose to look the other way, the law has a provision that could hold them liable for contributing to the delinquency of a minor. As we've said in this space before, we don't believe laws will stop all, or even most, would-be smokers from lighting up their first cigarette.