Victor J. Blue for The New York Times
A store in Bushwick, Brooklyn, that sells cigarettes. The legal age for buying them should be raised to 21, some city leaders say.
The age to legally buy cigarettes in New York City would rise to 21 from 18 under a proposal that officials unveiled on Monday, a measure that would give New York the strictest limits of any major American city.
The proposal would make the age for buying cigarettes and other tobacco products the same as for purchasing liquor, but it would not prohibit people under 21 from possessing or even smoking cigarettes.
It is the latest effort in a persistent campaign to curb smoking that began soon after Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg took office, with bans on smoking in restaurants and bars that expanded more recently to parks, beaches, plazas and other public places.
But this latest proposal, announced by Dr. Thomas A. Farley, the city's health commissioner, and Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker and a mayoral candidate, puts New York squarely into the middle of a debate over the rights and responsibilities of young people, and it drew much skepticism. At 18, New Yorkers are old enough to fight in wars, to drive and to vote, but if the smoking restriction passed they would be prohibited from deciding whether to take the risk of smoking.
Ms. Quinn and Dr. Farley defended the proposal, saying that people typically make the transition from experimental smoking to regular smoking around age 20, and that by making cigarettes harder to obtain at a young age the city would make it less likely that people would become lifelong addicts.
"With this legislation, we'll be targeting the age group at which the overwhelming majority of smokers start," Ms. Quinn said in announcing the legislation at a City Hall news conference.
While officials focused on the public health aspect of the age limitation, the announcement was also infused with political overtones. In the past, Mr. Bloomberg had always been on hand, standing in front of television cameras to boldly promote public health initiatives. But on Monday he was nowhere to be seen, allowing Dr. Farley to represent the administration and seemingly ceding the spotlight to Ms. Quinn, who initiated the proposal.
By proposing the legislation, Ms. Quinn, a Democrat who polls show is a leading candidate to succeed Mr. Bloomberg, appeared to be positioning herself to follow in his footsteps as a mayor who would make public health a top priority.
Mr. Bloomberg, in fact, had opposed a similar measure in 2006, arguing that raising the age to buy cigarettes would actually make smoking more enticing to teenagers. But he now believes differently, a spokeswoman said, because the city's youth smoking rate has plateaued and recent research has suggested a correlation between a higher smoking age and lower smoking rates.
In interviews, many New Yorkers were largely critical of the proposal, viewing it as an attack on the maturity and self-determination of young people.
"By 18, people are responsible enough to make their own decisions," said Erik Malave, 23, a music production student at City College. "Forcing people to make themselves healthy tends not to work."
Mr. Malave, from Yonkers, has been smoking for about three years, and he breaks for a cigarette four or five times a day. He also said that he thought the law would be a waste of time, and that young people would easily acquire cigarettes if they wanted them. "When I turned 18, I bought cigarettes for all my friends who weren't 18," he said.
Jessette Bautista, 21, began smoking when she was 17 and had no problem getting cigarettes from friends who would buy packs for her. She was surprised to hear about a proposal to change the legal age to purchase cigarettes. "What happened to freedom?" she said.
While alcohol may impair a person's judgment and so warrants a law that requires partakers to be 21 or older, Ms. Bautista said, cigarettes do not alter a person's state of mind. "Cigarettes will not intoxicate you the same way as alcohol," she said. "It will not put you under any influence."
Sheelagh McNeill and Julie Turkewitz contributed reporting.Sheelagh McNeill and Julie Turkewitz contributed reporting.
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