A bid to increase Louisiana's legal smoking age from 18 to 21 narrowly escaped the House budget committee, but only after lawmakers added a long list of exemptions to the proposal.
Fifty-two years ago, the surgeon general issued a report linking tobacco use to cancer. More than 42% of Americans were smokers at the time. That figure is now at just over 18%, according to a report from USA Today. Louisiana's smoking rate is among the highest in the country...