The Evanston City Council was expected to vote Monday on an ordinance that would not only raise the minimum age to purchase tobacco products to 21, but would also make possession of those products a crime in the northeastern Illinois city, but it turned out that criminalizing possession proved too much for some of the aldermen.

During the meeting, Alderman Donald Wilson said he felt uncomfortable heaping a fine on a young person who may already be addicted to tobacco products, as well as criminalizing something that is “legal across the board” as far as possession, according to a report by the Evanston Review.

The amendment that would drop possession of tobacco products from by a person under 21-years-old from becoming a crime was passed 7-2.

However another alderman, Delores Holmes, thought that the ordinance wasn’t going far enough and suggested a widespread ban of tobacco sales in the city, alluding to the move that CVS made recently. Her suggestion was met with a chilly response.

The revised ordinance is now scheduled for a vote on Oct. 27.

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Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for MLB.com, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.