Edina City Council unanimously votes to raise tobacco buying age to 21

EDINA, Minn. (KMSP) - On Tuesday, the Edina City Council voted unanimously to raise the legal age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21.

The city council held a public hearing and first reading of the ordinance at their meeting on April 18. Now, Edina is the first city in the state to raise the legal age to buy tobacco.

The ordinance prohibits the sale of all tobacco-related products and tobacco-related devices to people under the age of 21. Tobacco-related devices include pipes, rolling papers, electronic delivery devices and any other device that is intended to be used for chewing, sniffing, smoking or inhaling tobacco or tobacco-related products.

The ordinance will go into effect on July 1.

Edina joins Hawaii and California in the move along with 220 other municipalities. According to a release, more than 95 percent of current smokers started before they turned 21.