Washington State’s highly restrictive smoking laws could get worse. The King County Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Administrative Board has voted in favor of a resolution that will formally ask the state to raise the minimum ge to purchase tobacco from 18 to 21.

Five states formally debated 21-year age increases this year: Colorado, Hawaii, Maryland, Utah and Vermont. None of the states passed any age changes.

Washington is the only state in the U.S. where legislation prevents smoking in places where cigars are also sold. In addition, the state has a 95% tax capped at 65 cents per cigar.

King County is home to Seattle. It is the largest in the state with a population just under 2 million residents.

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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.