Changing the legal smoking age in Washington has been a goal for State Attorney General Bob Ferguson for a couple of years now. I’ve heard him talk about it at several meetings, both large and small, during his tenure. And for a couple of years, I’ve been trying to decide if I agree with him or not.

A lifelong non-smoker who was raised in a smoking household like most of the people I know, I have never seen the appeal of smoking. The opposite is more true. I have seen the down side of smoking cigarettes often enough, and close enough, that I can’t rally behind the argument that smoking has a glamorous image which draws young people in to the addiction.

Despite my own opinion that no one anywhere should ever smoke, ever, I can’t call for legislation taking that right away from someone who, at 18, is a voting peer. Laws can barely protect us from other people, never mind protecting us from ourselves.

So, in the spirit of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” that’s a point for keeping 18 as the legal age for buying and using tobacco products.

Another lifelong habit I’ve developed is curiosity, though, so I’ve been trying to puzzle out the “why” in this argument. Why would we want to raise the smoking age?

What’s the benefit, and who is the beneficiary? To save the state money on health care costs? Maybe, but when and where those savings appear is unclear, along with how much savings the change might yield.

To simplify the work of enforcing the law for police officers? Probably. We already have a minimum age for two once-illegal substances, alcohol and marijuana, so a different age for a different, but just as addictive substance, doesn’t make a lot of sense.

Score one for raising the age to 21.

But is that reason good enough to justify taking away another right from an 18 year-old citizen?

This internal debate probably won’t get settled any time soon. As for the state, I expect the change will eventually be made as the movement to raise the age is gaining momentum across the country.

What I will be curious about then is whether we’ll even notice.