January 31, 2017 Charlie Minato Age Restrictions,  Regulations

Second Oregon Tobacco Purchasing Age Increase Bill Expected Tomorrow

Tomorrow, Sen. Elizabeth Steiner Hayward, D-Beaverton, is expected to introduce legislation that would raise the minimum the minimum age to purchase tobacco from 18 to 21 in the state of Oregon.

A separate bill, H.B. 2024, was introduced earlier in the Oregon House. It would not only increase the minimum age to purchase tobacco, but would remove the 50 cent cap on cigar taxes, meaning cigars would be subject to the 65 percent tax that is charged on other tobacco products.

That means that a cigar with an MSRP of $9.50 would jump from $10.50 to $15.20 by halfwheel estimates before sales taxes are added.

In 2015, a similar age increase bill was proposed, though it ultimately stalled.

If passed, Oregon would join California and Hawaii as the only states where you must be 21 to purchase tobacco, though a host of other states are considering similar measures.

Elizabeth Steiner Hayward Oregon tobacco purchasing age
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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.

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