Northern Suburb Requires Smokers to be 21 to Purchase Cigarettes

You now have to be 21 years old to buy cigarettes in one Northern Illinois town.

It was what every person did at the age of 18 right? Buy a pack of cigarettes. Even if you were not a smoker, turning 18 meant that you could legally buy a pack of cigarettes. It was a right of passage.

Now, 18 year olds in Evanston, IL will have to travel to a new town to experience it.

According to WIFR.com, a new ordinance in Evanston took effect on Saturday. They are the first community to raise the age from 18 to 21.

Will this be a trend that will continue through the rest of Illinois? This we aren't sure.

Dr. Tim Sanborn, a member of the Evanston's Health Advisory Council, sasy 90 percent of smokers start before age 21. Those who do not develop the habit as teens are less likely to start as adults.

But what does that really have to do with raising the age to purchase to 21? Aren't individuals at the age of 18 legally adults? Now all of the 19-year-old smokers in Evanston will have to wait two years to buy another pack at their corner convenience mart.

That is exactly what authorities want. City health official Carl Caneva said forcing them to leave the community to get their fix will add an obstacle to their daily habit.

Do you think that this ordinance will last?