Efforts to raise the minimum age to purchase tobacco to 21 in Colorado came to a halt today when the House Committee on Finance voted 7-6 against H.B. 1263. Much like the bipartisan support for the bill, those in the majority came from both sides of the aisle.

Colorado joins Utah and Vermont whose legislatures have also voted down similar measures in recent weeks. It was one of five states, alongside Hawaii and Maryland, where bills to raise the minimum age to 21 were introduced in this legislative session.

H.B. 1263 actually passed its first legislative hurdle last months when a 6-4 vote in favor the bill was cast in the House Health, Insurance, and Environment Committee.

If the bill passed, Colorado would have been the first to have a statewide law 21-year age restriction. 

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Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.