It wasn’t a ballot issue on Tuesday, but the minimum age to purchase tobacco products and e-cigarettes will be going up in Jackson County, Mo.

On Monday, the county’s legislature unanimously approved the increase, which will affect the unincorporated areas of the county when it goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2017. The increase will bring the county in line with increases passed by two its largest cities, Kansas City and Independence, and a growing movement in the Kansas City metropolitan area to increase the minimum age to purchase tobacco to 21-years-old.

Jackson County is the second most populous in Missouri with a 2015 population estimate of 687,623 people, though only about 22,000 of those people live in the county’s unincorporated areas.

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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.