Gov. Jay Inslee signed a tobacco bill into law Friday with Attorney General Bob Ferguson, dozens of students, legislators and local health leaders joining him at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. The bill raises the legal minimum age for tobacco purchases from 18 to 21. The Senate passed the bipartisan bill last Wednesday, which goes into effect Jan. 1, 2020.
“We know the risks associated with tobacco and nicotine,” Inslee said. “We know how much easier it is to prevent our children from becoming addicted in the first place than to treat the addiction later in life, or even worse, to treat the cancers and diseases caused by these products.”
Ferguson and the Department of Health requested the bill, which the governor and first lady Trudi Inslee have long supported. The bill was considered in five legislative sessions before being passed this year.
Read the rest of the story on the governor's Medium page.