To the editor:

The city of Columbia, Mo., recently adopted an ordinance that bans smoking e-cigarettes in public places and raises the minimum legal age to purchase cigarettes to 21. It makes sense to raise the age to buy cigarettes to 21 as smoking is still the leading cause of premature deaths in the United States. The fact is many smokers become addicted when they’re teenagers or younger.

The Institute of Medicine recently released a report that concluded that if the minimum legal age were raised now to 21 nationwide, there would be approximately 223,000 fewer premature deaths, 50,000 fewer deaths from lung cancer and 4.2 million fewer years of life lost for those born between 2000 and 2019. That is why the city of Lawrence should ban smoking e-cigarettes in public places and raise the minimum legal age to buy tobacco to 21.