Wilmette Raises Minimum Age To Buy Tobacco To 21

WILMETTE, IL — Members of the Wilmette Village Board unanimously approved an amendment to the village's code this month increasing the minimum age to buy cigarettes and other tobacco products from 18 to 21. With the age hike, the village joins more than a dozen towns and one Illinois county. The change affected 14 businesses in Wilmette licensed to sell tobacco.

Several organizations have said almost a quarter of tobacco users in the Midwest are under the age of 18, and 90 percent of people who provide those under 18 with tobacco are themselves, according to a memo from Assistant Director of Administration Services John Prejzner.

The Preventing Tobacco Addiction Foundation said raising the minimum age to buy tobacco products to 21 has been shows to cut the rates of smoking among those under 18 by more than 50 percent, he noted.

Illinois lawmakers are considering raising the age for tobacco, electronic cigarettes and other nicotine products to 21 statewide, according to the memo.

Only the state government can regulate the minimum age for smoking, so local ordinances only penalize those who sell to minors.

Wilmette joins 13 other municipalities, including nearby Evanston, Deerfield, Lincolnshire, Highland Park, in raising the minimum age.

The change impacts five gas stations, four convenience stores, two grocery stores, a liquor store, a golf course and a cigar shop in Wilmette.

That shop's owner told Pioneer Press he suspects people will just go to other towns where the age limit remains 18. Police said they check regularly on all businesses trading in tobacco, but they have not yet done any compliance checks based on the new age limit.