Why not make smoking illegal for people of all ages?

Attorney General Bob Ferguson wants to make Washington state the first in the country where no one under 21 can have tobacco, but some would be fine with the state going even further.

“I think the product should be illegal,” says KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson.

“If you had a toaster that caught on fire and set a house ablaze and killed two people, that toaster would be recalled until that safety flaw was corrected, and yet a product that kills 500,000 people a year is allowed to be sold in this country.”

But Monson thinks Ferguson’s effort is a step in the right direction.

In a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Ferguson and lawmakers from the state House and Senate announced bills that would move the state’s smoking age of 18 to 21, following the lead of several cities and counties nationwide.

“I absolutely fully support him on this,” says Monson. “A lot of people have said ‘So it’s OK for people to go and fight for our country and yet they can’t have a cigarette legally?’ My response would be we already tell them they can’t have a drink […] So I have no problem with saying we’re going to make cigarettes at least as restrictive as we make alcohol.”

Monson says he remembers how stupid he was at age 18 and thinks cigarettes being legal for people of that age is not a good thing.

“Most of us were morons when we were 18,” says Monson. “You think that you’re invincible, you’re immortal and they get them addicted.”

Possession of tobacco or e-cigarettes under 21 would be a civil offense. It would be a misdemeanor to sell or give tobacco to anyone under 21.

Ferguson and other officials said they were inspired to change Washington’s smoking age after seeing the number of teenage smokers decline in cities that banned tobacco for those under 21. Similar bills failed in the last two years in Colorado, Utah, and New Jersey.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.