Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a bill into law on Sunday that raises the minimum age to buy tobacco products to 21 years old.
The new state law also includes vaping products, like e-cigarettes and JUUL pods.
The law will take affect in July. Currently, people 18 and older can buy tobacco products.
Businesses will face fines and other punishments for selling tobacco to minors under the new law. The bill also removes penalties for minors in possession of tobacco products.
Illinois joins Arkansas (beginning next month), California, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, Utah (beginning in July 2021), Virginia (beginning in July) and Washington (beginning in 2020) in raising the minimum age to purchase tobacco products to 21. A number of major cities, including Cincinnati, Cleveland, Minneapolis, San Antonio and St. Louis have also passed similar laws.
Kevin Burns, the CEO of JUUL Labs — the maker of one of the most popular e-cigarrette devices and a company that has garnered criticism for marketing to children — lauded the passing of the new law.
"we are committed to working with lawmakers to enact these effective policies and hope more jurisdictions follow in Illinois’ example," Burns statement read, in part. "...we are committed to working with lawmakers to enact these effective policies and hope more jurisdictions follow in Illinois’ example.
