You can take Iowa out of the running to become the second state to increase the minimum age to purchase tobacco products to 21-years-old, as a state Senate committee declined to advance the bill on Wednesday.

The bill, SF 2016, had been assigned to the Senate Human Resources Committee, which is where it met its demise on Wednesday. The bill not only called for an increase in the age to purchase tobacco products, but made it illegal for a person under the age of 21 to possess or attempt to purchase them.

Sen. Herman Quimbach, D-Ames, who sponsored the bill, told the Des Moines Register that he plans to come back with a similar proposal in the 2017 legislative session, saying it often takes several years for anti-tobacco bills to win approval.

That leaves Hawaii as the only state to successfully raise the minimum age to purchase tobacco products to 21. Several states still have proposals being considered by their legislatures, including Oklahoma, New Jersey, Kentucky, Tennessee, Utah and Washington, though that bill recently hit a snag due to the effects it would have on the state’s budget.

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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.