Illinois Senate Passes Tobacco 21; Bill Heads to Pritzker’s Desk

 

[March 15, 2019] 

SPRINGFIELD – (March 14, 2019) – Today, the Illinois State Senate voted 39-16 to advance House Bill 345, nicknamed Tobacco 21, which would raise the legal sales age of tobacco products to 21 in Illinois. The bill will now go to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk for him to either sign or veto.

Last year, Illinois legislators passed a Tobacco 21 bill, but unfortunately it was vetoed by former Governor Bruce Rauner. On March 12, the Illinois House of Representatives passed the bill.

The American Lung Association calls on the governor to sign Tobacco 21 because of the enormous potential impact on community health.

“Tobacco 21 has received tremendous support in both the Illinois House and Senate, so we hope that Gov. Pritzker will follow the lead of his legislators and sign this bill into law,” said Kathy Drea from the Lung Association. “After four years of advocating for Tobacco 21, we hope that this is the year that Illinois will take this huge step in improving community health.

This law is proven to protect children, reduce smoking rates, save on healthcare costs and save lives. In fact, Chicago saw a 36 percent decline in the use of tobacco products among teens after passing Tobacco 21 in 2016.”

The need for Illinois to take action to protect youth from tobacco is more urgent than ever. Nationally, youth e-cigarette use has reached epidemic levels due to a 78 percent increase in high school e-cigarette use from 2017 to 2018, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s 2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey. This has caused the U.S. Surgeon General to declare e-cigarette use among young people an epidemic in an Advisory issued in December 2018.

Currently, seven states and more than 34 municipalities in Illinois have already passed Tobacco 21 laws.

[Jill Thompson
Division Manager | Communications | Western
American Lung Association]