NY State May Raise Smoking Age To 21

Christine Quinn's plan to raise the smoking age in New York City is going statewide.

New York would become the first state to hike the age to buy cigarettes from 18 to 21 under new legislation announced Sunday. Officials moved to stop a cross-border bonanza in cigarette sales if a hike in the age proposed by the city last week goes through by extending the measure statewide. “Young people will go across the border,” said Sen. Diane Savino (D-Staten Island), who is sponsoring the state bill, adding that after the city bill was announced, “All of the cigarette sellers in the other counties said, ‘That’s great! You want to raise the age in New York City, they’ll just come to Nassau, they’ll come to Suffolk, they’ll come to Westchester, they’ll come to Rockland.”

The New York Association of Grocery Stores is opposing the bill.