Chicago Mayor Proposes Higher Tobacco Purchasing Age

Rahm Emanuel wants to raise the tobacco purchasing age from 18 to 21.

January 14, 2016

CHICAGO – Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday announced plans to increase the minimum age for buying tobacco products in Chicago to 21 from 18.

Emanuel and Chicago Public Health Commissioner Julie Morita announced the plan, which also includes higher taxes on cigars, roll-your-own tobacco and smokeless tobacco.

Increasing the tobacco purchasing age has garnered attention at the state, local and federal level. In September 2015, U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH), along with seven other senators, introduced the Tobacco to 21 Act (S. 2100), which would prohibit the sale of tobacco products to anyone under the age of 21.

In June 2015, Hawaii became the first state to increase its tobacco purchasing age to 21.

The city of Evanston, Illinois, raised its tobacco purchasing age to 21 in November 2011, and 80 cities in the state of Massachusetts require customers to be 21 to purchase tobacco products. And in December 2015, Cleveland became the fifth city in Ohio to adopt the higher tobacco purchasing age.

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