Westchester considers upping age for tobacco sales

Smokers, dippers and other tobacco users will have to wait until 19 years old to buy tobacco products in the county if a new bill makes its way through the Board of Legislators.

Legislator Catherine Borgia, the board”™s Democratic majority leader, is leading the push to raise the minimum age to buy tobacco from the age of 18.

“It”™s time to make it harder in Westchester for our young people to access cigarettes,” she said. Borgia said increasing the age would have a dramatic impact on the amount of tobacco products circulating through county high schools. A recent federal Department of Health and Human Services report said that an average of 700 children under age 18 become smokers each day.

The report also said that tobacco was the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S. Peter Fisher, of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, joined Borgia at a press conference April 2 in Millwood. He said 480,000 Americans die each year from tobacco-related illness. At least $289 billion is spent each year in health care and other costs due to tobacco use, he said.

“We even encourage Westchester County to go the full distance and increase the minimum sale age to 21 just like New York City and Suffolk County,” Fisher said. “It”™s that extra step that will complement other policies to reduce smoking and save lives.”

The city upped its minimum age for tobacco purchasing to 21 last November.