(Bloomberg View) -- Public health in the U.S. has come a longway from the 1960s, when almost half of adults were stillsmoking.

Today that rate is 14.9 percent.

Read: This is what happens when you ban workplacesmoking

The problem is, that's still far too high. Bolder steps toprevent and reduce tobacco addiction are needed--like theone Hawaii took last summer when it raised the legal age fortobacco purchases to 21.

Hawaii became the first state to make this change afterobserving the success of the first such local law, in Needham,Massachusetts.

Since Needham's ordinance was adopted in 2005, youth smokingthere has fallen by more than half.

In 2013, New York became the first big city to follow suit(under then-mayor Michael Bloomberg, the founder and majority ownerof Bloomberg LP).

Today, nearly 100 localities in eight states have done so, andmore are considering it. States have been slower to act; theCalifornia Senate passed such a bill this summer, and theMassachusetts legislature is also weighing the change.

Read: Smoking takes major toll on Californiaproductivity

A higher age limit is a good strategy, because the best way toreduce tobacco addiction is to prevent it.

Young people are especially prone to falling into the smokinghabit, the evidence shows. Four out of five adult smokers becamedaily users before they turned 21.

No wonder a Philip Morris memo from the 1980s warned, "Raisingthe legal minimum age for cigarette purchaser to 21 could gut ourkey young adult market (17-20)."

Read: What should employers do aboute-cigarettes?

If not just individual states but the federal government were toraise the smoking age to 21, it could cut future smoking amongtoday's teenagers by 12 percent, according to the National Academyof Sciences.

It would also prevent approximately 223,000 premature deathsamong people born between 2000 and 2019.

Critics make a familiar counterargument: If 18-year-olds canvote and serve in the military, why can't they light up? It's afair point. This age group also can't drink alcohol, however, andthe case for limiting access to tobacco is even stronger, becausethere's no safe level of tobacco use.

Moreover, society pays a heavy cost for smoking, in both medicalbills and lost productivity. Cities, states and the federalgovernment share a compelling interest in avoiding those costs andhelping young adults live longer, healthier lives.

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