The ninth-largest city in Massachusetts has joined the list of municipalities to raise the tobacco purchase age to 21-years-old.

On May 23, the Lynn Board of Health approved the increase, though they have not yet establish when the change will go into effect. That is scheduled to come at the board’s June 20 meeting, according to Michele Desmaris, the city’s public health director.

Additionally, the city approved a cap on the number of tobacco retailer licenses available in the city, as well as regulations about minimum prices and packaging for cigars. The city has not yet posted the regulations on its website, and a request for a copy of the new laws has not been answered, but a report from ItemLive.com states that a single cigar must be priced at a minimum price of $5.

Lynn is located approximately 12 miles northeast of Boston with a 2014 population estimate of 92,137 residents.

Update (July 31, 2017) — At its June 20, 2017 meeting, the Lynn Board of Health set the effective date of the increase to be Aug. 1, 2017. This story was originally published on June 6, 2017.

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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.