California Lawmakers Approve Raising Smoking Age To 21

Bruce Schillin exhales vapor from an e-cigarette in Sacramento.

Rich Pedroncelli / AP

California lawmakers on Thursday approved raising the smoking age from 18 to 21, a move that would make the state the second — and most populous — in the U.S. to do so.

The bill, which still has to be signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, imposes the same restrictions on electronic cigarettes — a provision that the tobacco industry argued would harm smokers who use the devices to transition away from traditional forms of smoking.

Raising the minimum age was also opposed by those who argued that if at 18 the public can enlist in the military and vote, they should be allowed to make their own choice when it comes to smoking.

"You can commit a felony when you’re 18 years old and for the rest of your life be in prison, and yet, you can’t buy a pack of cigarettes," Assembly Minority Leader Chad Hayes argued, according to the Associated Press.

Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez celebrates after the bill is approved in March.

Rich Pedroncelli / AP

But the measure had strong support in the Assembly and Senate, which also approved bills to expand non-smoking zones to more schools and public areas, raise licensing fees for retailers, and allow counties to impose higher sales taxes.

Advocates of raising the age limit for purchasing tobacco point to studies that show most smokers start before they turn 18. Raising the limit to 21, then, would make it harder for minors to buy tobacco from their 18-year-old friends.

Preventing more people from starting to smoke will also mean huge healthcare cost savings down the road, proponents say.

Brown, a Democrat, does not generally comment on the prospects of legislation sent to his desk. But measures are part of a larger trend gaining steam among local governments, with New York and San Francisco already imposing similar restrictions.

Ronen Zilberman / AP

Hawaii became the first state to raise the minimum smoking age to 21 last year. Lawmakers there, as in California, were inspired in part by the popularity of e-cigarettes, or vaporizers, among young people. Since they aren't regulated by the federal government, states and local governments have started to step in.

"We cannot allow our next generation to become addicted to these new and unhealthy tobacco products," Democratic Assemblyman Rob Bonta said at one point during the debate.

It was a hard-fought provision, with one Republican assemblyman, Duncan Hunter, at one point vaping during a committee hearing to make his point that they pose less of a public health risk than traditional cigarettes.

LINK: Hawaii Becomes First State To Raise Minimum Smoking Age To 21

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