Raise the California Smoking Age to 21?

By BEA KARNES (Patch Staff)

California moved one step closer Tuesday to raising the smoking age to 21.

A bill by Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina) was approved by the state Senate by a vote of 26 to 8. SB151 now moves to the Assembly for consideration.

The American Lung Association notes that 90 percent of tobacco users begin smoking before the age of 21.

“We will not sit on the sidelines while big tobacco markets to our kids and gets another generation of young people hooked on a product that will ultimately kill them,” said Hernandez in a written statement. “Tobacco companies know that people are more likely to become addicted to smoking if they start at a young age.”

Tobacco-related diseases killed 34,000 Californians in 2009 and cost the state more than $18 billion in medical expenses, according to studies by U.C. San Francisco.

California communities also continue to clamp-down on tobacco products. In Northern California, the City of Livermore recently designated a “downtown non-smoking area” while two Southern California cities took action against e-cigarettes. If you use tobacco, skip Manhattan Beach altogether.

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