New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley recently proposed increasing the legal age for buying cigarettes from 18 to 21.

If passed, the new regulation would not allow those under 21 to buy cigarettes or other tobacco products. However, it would not prohibit them from being in possession of or smoking cigarettes. This is the latest effort by city officials to decrease the smoking rate in New York City.

The proposal has not been approved by the City Council orsigned off by the mayor, but both the City Council speaker, Christine Quinn, and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg have expressed support for the measure.

“With this legislation, we’ll be targeting the age group at which the overwhelming majority of smokers start,” Quinn said in the announcement.

However, NYU students are not enthusiastic about the new proposal.

“It’s just like alcohol,” CAS sophomore Anouk Thevenin said. “People are going to have their way around it.”

This is not the first method of decreasing the level of smoking activity that city officials have proposed. Bloomberg recently suggested raising the minimum price of cigarettes to $10.50 and requiring stores to keep cigarettes out of sight from customers until they request to buy them.

“The campaign is intended to shield children from tobacco marketing and to keep people who have quit smoking from buying cigarettes on impulse,” Bloomberg said of this most recent initiative. “Such displays suggest that smoking is a normal activity, and they invite young people to experiment with tobacco.”

According to the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, the current New York youth smoking rate is 12.5 percent, which is below the national average of 18.1 percent.

Some NYU students who support the new proposal believe increasing the smoking age would benefit young people, but the decision of whether to smoke is ultimately their own prerogative.

“I think it’s smart to make the smoking age higher than the drinking age, but I don’t think there should be any regulations for people who can enlist,” said CAS junior Joe Condren. “If you are old enough to make the decision to fight in the army, you are old enough to make the decision to harm yourself by buying cigarettes.”

According to citywide data, smoking causes 7,000 deaths per year in New York City. The Bloomberg administration has also banned smoking in almost all public spaces, including parks, plazas and beaches, as well as restaurants and bars.

New York State officials recently expressed support on Sunday for the proposal and have considered expanding it to the state.

A version of this article appeared in Wednesday May 1 print edition. Adjoa Hackman is a contributing writer. Email her at c[email protected].