A bill raising the age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21 has been signed into law.
Gov. Stitt signed the bill on Tuesday.
“Enforcing tobacco product age limits actually takes place at the state and local level, so even though the federal government had already raised the age to 21, we needed to make sure state law mirrored that so there was no confusion or ambiguity for the public, businesses or law enforcement. Just as importantly, health care professionals have long advocated raising the minimum age for tobacco to reduce smoking numbers and that will help us achieve better health outcomes.
Sen. Greg McCortney, R-Ada
Sen. Greg McCortney, who is the chair of the Senate Health and human Services Commitee, is the main author of the Senate Bill 1423.
The law prohibits the sale of cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars and other tobacco products to people under 21 years old.
This important legislation will protect our youth from the negative health effects of tobacco use by increasing the age when they are eligible to make such purchases. This will align us with federal statute, and that compliance puts ABLE in line for grant funding of more than $18 million that can be used for tobacco cessation programs. I was grateful to work with Senator McCortney on the passage of this legislation and for the support it received.
Rep. Kevin Wallace, R-Wellston, principal author of Senate Bill 1423
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