While the state legislature continues to debate raising the minimum age to purchase tobacco products to 21-years-old, a pair of Minneapolis suburbs approved their own increases this week..

On Monday night, both the Lakeville City Council and the Hastings City Council approved their own ordinances to raise the minimum age, giving the state 67 municipalities that have joined the Tobacco 21 movement. Both cities are now in compliance with the federal age increase signed into law in late December, and will allow local law enforcement to enforce the age change.

Both changes will go into effect in the coming days as per the requirements of each city’s laws as it pertains to publishing the change in the law.

Hastings is home to approximately 22,700 residents and is located in the southeastern part of the state, 30 miles southeast of the Minneapollis-St. Paul metropolitan area. Lakeville is located 25 miles south of Minneapolis and is home to approximately 64,000 residents.

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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.