Starting July 1st you will need to be 21 to buy tobacco products in Illinois. Governor JB Pritzker signed the legislation Sunday making Illinois the first state in the Midwest to raise the age for buying nicotine products to twenty-one.
‘’Today is a milestone day for the health of our communities and especially our young people,’’ said the Governor. ‘’This is action that’s supported by the Surgeon General, the American Cancer Society, our own Illinois Department of Public Health, our local health departments, by all available research, and by common sense,’’ added the Governor.
‘’For Illinois, it will reduce costs for our state, it will make our schools and communities healthier places to learn and live, and – most importantly – it will save lives,’’ said the governor during a signing ceremony in Chicago.
Results of a 2018 survey of Vermilion County teenagers released earlier this year showed 11.5 percent of the youth surveyed said they smoked at least one cigarette in the past twelve months. The ‘I Sing the Body Electric Survey’ taken by OSF Healthcare also found that current cigarette use by teens had decreased 76.6 percent since the first survey was taken in 2002 to 7.3 percent in 2018. But the survey also found approximately 19.3 percent of Vermilion County teens currently use e-cigarettes – a 54-percent increase from 2016. The bill signed by the governor also raises buying e-cigarette materials to 21.
State Representative Camille Lilly said one of the points of the legislation is to remove the 18-year-old supplier from high schools. ‘’This legislation will reduce youth tobacco use in Illinois by at least 25-percent over time,’’ predicted Lilly.
