SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California lawmakers approved a measure that would raise the state’s minimum age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21, according to the Associated Press. It was part of a package of six anti-tobacco bills passed by both houses, which the American Cancer Society described as California’s most substantial anti-tobacco effort in two decades.
Additional measures passed include a bill to classify electronic cigarettes as tobacco products (and subject to the same restrictions); a bill expanding smoke-free areas to include bars, workplace break rooms, small businesses, warehouses, and hotel lobbies and meeting rooms; measures to apply smoking bans at more schools (including charters); and a bill that allows cities and counties to raise cigarette taxes beyond the state’s current 87-cents-per-pack excise tax.
"With California having such a huge population, it's going to be very impactful nationwide," Cathy Callaway, associate director of state and local campaigns for the American Cancer Society, told AP.
The minimum-age bill was fiercely opposed by many state Republicans, with opponents arguing that 18-year-olds are allowed to vote and join the military.
“You can commit a felony when you're 18 years old and for the rest of your life be in prison,” said assembly leader Chad Mayes (R). “And yet you can't buy a pack of cigarettes.”
The proposal has already passed in California’s state assembly but will need to be signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown (D). Assuming Brown signs off on the bill (his spokesperson has previously stated that the governor does not comment on pending legislation), California will become the second state to up the minimum age to 21.
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