A California state senator worried about the number of teenagers using tobacco wants to raise the legal minimum age for smoking in the Golden State from 18 to 21.
State Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina), an optometrist, introduced the legislation on Thursday, the Los Angeles Times reports. "Tobacco companies know that people are more likely to become addicted to smoking if they start at a young age," he said in a statement. "We can no longer afford to sit on the sidelines while Big Tobacco markets to our kids and gets another generation of young people hooked on a product that will ultimately kill them."
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