The city council of Gladstone, Mo., a suburb of Kansas City, Mo. ten miles to the north, has passed an ordinance that will increase the minimum age to purchase tobacco and alternative nicotine delivery products to 21-years-old as of March 1.

Gladstone becomes the fourth city in Missouri to approve an increase, joining Independence, Columbia and Kansas City, which passed its increase in conjunction with Kansas City, Kan. in Nov. 2015. The area has become a growing hotbed of cities looking to increase the minimum age to purchase tobacco in recent months, with several additional cities currently on track to increase the minimum age to purchase tobacco.

The proposal was introduced by Councilwoman Carol Suter, who told the Kansas City Star that the increase is in keeping with the city’s goal of having a healthy community and economy.

Gladstone is home to an estimated 26,157 people as of 2013 census numbers.

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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, the G-League's Valley Suns, and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for Major League Baseball, 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.