In Kansas, 18-year-olds can legally buy and smoke tobacco. But not for much longer
On July 1, Kansans between the ages of 18 and 21 will no longer be able to legally buy and smoke tobacco.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly signed a bill Tuesday increasing the minimum age for tobacco consumption, sale and purchase in the state from 18 to 21.
Kansas joins 41 other states — but not Missouri — that have raised the age in accordance with federal standards established in 2019.
A bipartisan set of lawmakers sent Kelly the bill last month. If Kansas had delayed action another year, the federal government would have been able to withhold $1.2 million in funding for tobacco enforcement.
In Missouri, state Rep. Maggie Nurrenbern, a Kansas City Democrat, has filed a bill that would raise the minimum age to purchase tobacco, as the state is one of the last eight holdouts. That bill has not yet reached the floor for debate.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 7.4% of the nation’s 18-to-24-year-olds smoke cigarettes, compared to 12.5% of the nation as a whole. The Midwest has the nation’s highest percentage of smokers, 15.2%, with the lowest, 9%, in the West.
The Star’s Kacen Bayless contributed to this report.
