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For Immediate Release
Date: August 23, 2017
Contact: Hannah Goering
(847) 377-8099
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Fifth Lake County Community Increases Minimum Legal Sales Age for Tobacco Products to 21
Waukegan, Ill. – On August 21, 2017, the Buffalo Grove Village Board approved an ordinance to increase the minimum legal sales age (MLSA) for tobacco products to 21. Effective December 11, 2017, individuals in the Village of Buffalo Grove must be at least 21 years of age to purchase tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes.
“Studies show that 95 percent of adult smokers started before the age of 21,” said Mark Pfister, Executive Director of the Lake County Health Department and Community Health Center. “Raising the minimum legal sales age of tobacco products to 21 is an important step in decreasing youth tobacco use and reducing preventable deaths in our county.”
The health department’s Tobacco Free Lake County program offers education and technical assistance to municipalities considering Tobacco 21 policies. To date, five Lake County communities including Deerfield, Highland Park, Lincolnshire, Vernon Hills, and Buffalo Grove are among 11 municipalities in the state of Illinois to adopt Tobacco 21 ordinances.
“I am very happy that Buffalo Grove became the fifth community in Lake County to adopt a Tobacco 21 ordinance,” shared Beverly Sussman, Village of Buffalo Grove President. “I would like to thank Dr. Cortesi and Mrs. Jamie Epstein from the Stand Strong Coalition and the Catalyst group from Stevenson High School for presenting information regarding Tobacco 21."
Tobacco use continues to be the leading preventable cause of death in the United States and is responsible for 480,000 deaths annually. Over the years, public health officials have worked to combat the issue by promoting policies that reduce secondhand smoke exposure and limit the tobacco industry’s ability to target youth. Policies raising the MLSA of tobacco help delay the onset of smoking by increasing the age difference between those who can purchase tobacco and youth still attending secondary school. A 2015 report by the Institute of Medicine showed that raising the MLSA of tobacco products lowers the rate of youth (ages 15-17) who start smoking by 25 percent.
For more information about tobacco sales restrictions and regulations, please contact Tobacco Free Lake County at (847) 377-8090, or contact Danielle Ryan, Community Health Specialist, at (847) 377-8108 or dryan@lakecountyil.gov.
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