The Chicago suburb of Mundelein has joined the Tobacco 21 movement, as on Monday the village board passed an ordinance raising the minimum age to purchase tobacco and alternative nicotine products from 18 to 21-years-old.
Once the increase goes into effect on March 1, 2018, retailers who sell tobacco products to persons under 21 will face fines between $100 and $500 for a first offense, with a second offense punishable by a fine between $250 and $500. A third offense in a two-year period comes with a $500 fine. Retailers also face the possibility of losing their tobacco sales license.
Additionally, a person under 21 who is found to have purchased tobacco can be fined between $100 and $500.
Mundelein joins a growing list of cities in the Chicago area and beyond to pass such an increase, joining Chicago, Evanston, Oak Park, Elk Grove Village, Highland Park, Deerfield, Naperville, Maywood, Vernon Hills, Berwyn, Lincolnshire, Buffalo Grove, as well as the unincorporated areas of Lake County.
An increase has also been proposed at the state level, though it has failed to proceed to votes by both chambers of the legislature.
Mundelein is located 40 miles northwest of Chicago and is home to approximately 31,500 people.