Posted
3/31/2009 05:06:00 PM
by Douglas
You can vote, join the army, be tried as an adult and enter into legal binding contracts at 18 years of age, but not if those contracts involve beer, and if the Texas Legislature gets its way, a pack of
smokes.Though they are legally considered adults and can serve in the military, 18-year-old Texans would be considered minors when it comes to smoking under a bill passed unanimously through a Senate committee Tuesday.
The measure would increase the legal age for buying tobacco products to 19, and would cut off an estimated $12.5 million in tax revenue for the state over the next two years.
How ridiculously stupid. 18 is 18. If that's the line in the sand, let it ride. The thought of a citizen performing such valuable service as that to our military (or worse, jury duty) without ever knowing the joys of a beer and a smoke are downright criminal.