Hingham Raises Age To Buy Tobacco To 21

HINGHAM, MA — Although Massachusetts at the beginning of the new year is raising the legal age to buy tobacco to 21, the board of health has decided it doesn't want to wait.

At their last meeting on Nov. 13, the Hingham Board of Health voted to immediately raise the legal age from 19 to 21.

According to the board of health, raising the age now creates consistency by not allowing people who turn 19 before Dec. 31 to buy tobacco/vape products before the legal age gets raised.

In 2014, the board originally raised the purchasing age from 18 to 19 as part of an effort to get tobacco out of schools. Board of Health Chair Kirk Shilts told the Patriot Ledger he advocated to raise the age to 21 as early as 2014.

“Getting it out of the schools was essential, so we did that, but we just kind of completed the process with this bump to 21,” Shilts said. “When you start smoking as a teenager you’re just doing it because your peers are doing it. If you take up smoking at 21, you have to really want to do it.”

For more on this story, check out the Patriot Ledger

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