Onondaga County, N.Y., which is home to Syracuse, is one step closer to raising the minimum age to purchase tobacco from 19 to 21.
The Onondaga County Legislature voted 11-5 in favor of the age hike, with one vote abstaining, though it will still need to pass a public hearing and then get signed by County Executive Joanie Mahoney, who vetoed legislation raising the purchasing age from 18 to 19 in 2009, but was then overruled.
Current law allows those serving in the military to purchase tobacco even if they are not 19, the new law would scrap that exemption.
Onondaga County has a population around a half million people.