It looks like the legal age to drink and smoke in Chicago will soon be one and the same.
DNAinfo Chicago reports that Mayor Rahm Emanuel is poised to introduce an ordinance that will raise the minimum age to purchase tobacco and other nicotine products in the city from 18 to 21. The announcement comes on the heels of a report that Emanuel is seeking a tax hike on cigars, chewing tobacco and loose, roll-your-own cigarettes, and less than two weeks after a new e-cigarette tax went into effect.
The measure is expected to be addressed at the first City Council meeting of the year on Wednesday, though there is no mention of an ordinance to raise the smoking age on the city's public meeting details.
Chicago isn't the only major U.S. city that has looked to raise its legal smoking age to 21—New York, Boston, Kansas City and Cleveland have all done the same.