Increase in Minimum Purchasing Age for Tobacco Proposed in Pennsylvania

There’s another anti-tobacco bill in the state of Pennsylvania, this time, new rules on who is able to purchase tobacco.

Rep. Vanessa Brown, D-Philadelphia, has introduced H.B. 1628, which would change the minimum age to purchase tobacco from 18 to 21. Brown was joined by Rep. W. Curtis Thomas, D-Philadelphia; Mark Cohen, D-Philadelphia; and Margo Davidson, D-Delaware.

It’s chances of passing seem slim, less than even S.B. 13, a Senate bill that would increase taxes on cigars and other tobacco products sold within the state. Sources close to the situation told halfwheel that current discussions are over tax measures, meaning S.B. 13 will likely fail and cigars should remain untaxed in the state of Pennsylvania.

While numerous states have introduced legislation to increase the minimum age to purchase tobacco to 21, so far only Hawaii has passed such legislation. The new law will go into effect in Hawaii on Jan. 1, 2016.

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.