Jose Guerrero 
BROWNSVILLE – Texas is now the 16th state to raise the age on buying tobacco and nicotine products.
Governor Greg Abbott signed many legislative bills that were voted on by the Texas house during the 2019 Texas Legislative session. One bill that stood out amongst all was the new tobacco and nicotine bill. This bill states that residents of Texas must now be 21 years of age to purchase tobacco.
We spoke to the chief of police at UTRGV about his thoughts on the bill.
“It is a good thing that they did by raising the age limit on being able to purchase tobacco. I think this law actually does create at least an additional buffer between those that are in high school versus the ones that are in college,” said Munguia.
We also asked the chief about smoking on campus.
“What we’re seeking is voluntary compliance with the rules here on the campus. Here we’re a smoke-free campus. In the end the goal is just voluntary compliance. There’s no smoking on campus,” he continued.
We then talked to Richard Costello, the health and safety director at UTRGV.
“I think it’s an excellent idea, any bill or any law that can decrease smoking is a plus for the environment, as well as for public health. The cigarette companies they don’t care about your health, but the data is out there I mean cigarette smoking doesn’t provide a single benefit, so any reduction in cigarette smoking is a plus,” said Costello.
Students then gave their opinion on the bill.
“Well I think it’s a good idea, so kids don’t start smoking from a young age, and creating health problems,” said Javier Jaramillo.
“I think it’s pretty necessary. Tobacco’s too accessible to young people, especially high school students. You know people might think tobacco’s cool now, but you know what’s not cool…lung cancer, that sucks so I think it’s totally necessary,” said Matt Mujica.
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