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<br />News of Orange <br /> <br />Local teens seek change in <br />tobacco buying age <br /> <br />Infographic courtesy 
of the CDC <br />Smoking age <br />According to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 73 percent of <br />American adults support making the legal smoking age 21 years old, including 70 percent of <br />cigarette smokers. Orange High students conducted a similar survey. <br /> Posted: Monday, July 27, 2015 7:30 am <br />From staff reports <br /> <br />On July 7, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a press release stating that <br />75 percent of American adults, including 70 percent of cigarette smokers, favor making 21 the <br />minimum age of sale for tobacco products. The research was published in the American Journal <br />of Preventive Medicine. <br /> <br />The same press release also stated that “Age-of-sale restrictions have been shown to contribute <br />to reductions in tobacco use and dependency among youth. In March, 2015, an Institute of <br />Medicine (IOM) report found that increasing the legal age of sale for tobacco will likely delay <br />tobacco use initiation by adolescents and young adults. The IOM found that if all states were to <br />raise the minimum age of sale for all tobacco products to 21, there would be a 12 percent <br />decrease in cigarette smoking over the next generation. This would translate into nearly <br />250,000 fewer premature deaths from cigarette smoking among people born between 2000 and <br />2019.” <br /> <br />In January 2015, local high school students who are members of the Tobacco Reality Unfiltered <br />clubs at Orange and Carrboro High School petitioned peers and educators at their schools. <br />They collected 318 signatures in support of increasing the minimum legal sale age to 21. Of the