December 8, 2015 Patrick Lagreid Age Restrictions,  Regulations

Independence, Mo. Introduces Bill to Raise Tobacco Purchase Age to 21

Fresh off Kansas City, Mo. and Kansas City, Kan. raising the age to purchase tobacco products and electronic smoking devices from 18 to 21 last month, nearby Independence, Mo. has introduced a proposal to do the same thing.

The city council heard the first reading of the proposal at its meeting on Monday night, with Mayor Eileen Weir making a motion to keep the age at 18. She said that she didn’t want to see 20-year-olds arrested for possession of cigarettes, according to a report from The Examiner.

However, her objection wasn’t enough to stop the bill, as it is scheduled to be voted on at the council’s Dec. 21. meeting. Should it pass, the change would go into effect in 60 days and make Independence the third city in Missouri to increase the minimum purchase age to 21, joining Kansas City and Columbia, who passed the increase in Dec. 2014.

Independence is the fourth-largest city in the state of Missouri with a population of just over 117,000 residents. It is located about 10 miles east of Kansas City.

Independence Jackson County Missouri tobacco purchasing age
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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 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.

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