October 14th, 2006
The New York City Council is considering two bills that would raise the legal age for buying cigarettes. One would raise the age to 19. The other would raise the age to 21. Currently, the age is 18.
Queens Councilman James Gennaro, who sponsored the version putting the legal age at 19, said he wrote his bill based on laws passed in Alabama, Alaska and Utah, as well as in Suffolk and Nassau counties in New York.
Bronx Councilman Joel Rivera, the Health committee chairman, wants to make it illegal for anyone under 21 to buy cigarettes. Gennaro said he would sign on to Rivera's version if it prevails in committee.
"The legal age to buy cigarettes and alcohol should be the same," says Joe Cherner, president of SmokeFree Educational Services, Inc. "I don't know what that age should be, but it should be the same."
Parts excerpted from the Daily News, 10/14/06
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