The central Minnesota town of Litchfield is poised to increase the minimum age to purchase tobacco from 18 to 21.

Yesterday, the Litchfield City Council voted 5-2 in favor of an ordinance that would set 21 as the minimum age to purchase tobacco. According to the Litchfield Independent Review, the measure underwent some revision. Specifically, those 18 or over will still be able to sell tobacco products, though there will be fines for those caught selling to anyone under 21. An amendment also removed restrictions on how far away licensed tobacco sellers needed to be away from one another.

The ordinance still needs to pass a second reading in two weeks.

Litchfield is located about 60 miles of Minneapolis. It has a population around 7,000.

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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.