The tweet from state Rep. Nate Libby, a Democrat, was taken down Tuesday afternoon.
AUGUSTA — A letter from Gov. Paul LePage that sharply criticized Sen. Nate Libby’s support for raising the age to buy cigarettes left the Lewiston Democrat smoking mad.
The Republican governor called senators who overrode his veto of a measure that hiked the legal age to buy tobacco products from 18 to 21 “hypocrites” for denying young adults the right to buy a legal product.
Libby has a different take on it.
He said he started smoking at 18 and is “still battling addiction today” as a consequence.
The assistant Senate minority leader said he’s tried a dozen times to quit and shelled out at least $30,000 on cigarettes because he picked up a terrible habit that hurts both his health and his wallet.
So Libby is glad the Legislature mustered the votes this month to override LePage’s veto to become one of the first states in the country to raise the legal age for buying tobacco products.
He called it “the most important public health policy” that lawmakers pushed through this year.
When Libby received the letter, he vented on Twitter.
“Oh boy! Another letter from Maine’s greatest pen pal! Seriously, he can piss off. T-21=single most important public health policy of 2017,” Libby wrote.
He said that soon after he posted it, he realized that his “colorful language” could become the story instead of the legislation itself. So he deleted the comment, but not before WGME saw it and wrote a story about it.
LePage’s letter, prompted by his “extreme disappointment” at failing to block the legislation, told senators that the law subverts the Constitution and attempts to social engineer legal adult behavior.
He said people who are 18 or older can vote, pay taxes, get married, make medical decisions for themselves, smoke medical marijuana and get sent off to war, “facing the possibility of a gruesome death or grievous wounds.”
“I agree that smoking is dangerous to a person’s health,” LePage wrote, “and I would never encourage anyone of any age to smoke cigarettes.”
However, he said, legislators “can’t have it both ways” and ought to let young adults choose for themselves whether to smoke.
Libby said, though, that research makes clear that raising the legal age to buy tobacco products will reduce the number of Mainers who start smoking — a move that will ultimately save many lives.
The new law, he said, “is a major policy victory for the people of Maine” and a rare example of moving the goal post forward during the LePage administration.
Libby said he got “frustrated with the governor’s views” and let his words get a little too harsh. But he’s not sorry about it.
“If I regret anything,” he added, “it’s having that first cigarette.”
scollins@sunjournal.com
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