California lawmakers voted Thursday to raise the legal smoking age from 18 to 21, following the footsteps of Hawaii, the only state to currently have such a measure. This comes only a week after San Francisco officials voted to take matters into their own hands and raise the smoking age to 21 in the city, which New York City has also done.
Before the new state law can go into effect, it has to be approved by Governor Jerry Brown, who has yet to comment on the legislation—which would also apply to e-cigarettes and vaping.
The hope is that raising the legal smoking age to 21 will prevent 18-year-olds from being able to purchase cigarettes for their under-aged high school friends. While we are all for this, it does seem a little naive: Let's be real, when there's a will, there's a way.
In addition to raising the legal age, the various related bills passed by lawmakers also call for expanding smoke-free areas to include bars, workplace break rooms, small businesses, warehouses and hotel lobbies and meeting rooms, according to an ABC report. Counties would also be able to raise their own cigarette taxes over the state's $0.87 per pack.
Do you think Governor Brown should sign the bill? Let us know in the comments section below.
